Cooper vs Winch
by MarenMary93
Summary: Just a small story involving Gib's lovely characters. (Involves Boxer, Pete, Duncan and Cooper. Plus Jack, of course.) Cooper hurts his hand on a mission. What else can I say? I just needed to write a little shameless H/C okay? And I missed these characters...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello friends. I hope you're doing well. I figured I should write a little background story for something I mentioned in another story (Michelle).**

Those of you who have read that story might remember something about Cooper and a winch? Well, I'm making this story.

"Okay, it's hooked up…" Duncan informed as he almost skidded in beside the rest of the squad. "Coop, you can start winching the package up here."

Cooper nodded and wrapped his right hand around the handle and started turning the wheel around.

"Hurry up big guy." Boxer snapped his fingers a few times as he tried to make the tall Californian work faster.

"Going as fast as I can here, Tex!" Cooper bit back as he struggled with the winch, "I swear this was rusty fifty years ago!"

"Sure it's not you getting weaker?" Pete hackled.

"Pretty sure…" Cooper grit out as he turned the handle another half turn.

The manually driven winch ticked with each little tooth on the gearwheel.

"Hurry up man…" Duncan pressed.

"I know… We're on a clock. AS ALWAYS!" Cooper frowned as he struggled with the crank on the winch, "I just can't get th… OhFuck! Dammit!"

There was a couple of seconds filled with the sound of the winch running free, before it abruptly stopped as the break mechanism decided to kick in long after it was supposed to.

"You good there Coop?" Jack asked without even looking towards the tall Californian.

Fighting to keep his cool, Cooper shook his head. He had automatically tucked his hand into the nook of his elbow in a hope to protect it and to ease the pain.

"Coop?" Duncan asked when Cooper didn't answer, "You good there buddy?"

"Nh…"

"Co-, CRAP!" Duncan almost shouted as he turned to look at Cooper, "Pete, Coop's bleeding!"

"Wha…?" Pete looked up, then towards Cooper, "Shit man! That looks bad! Put pressure on it."

Pete kept his eyes on Cooper as he took his backpack off and his hands found the med-kit. "Coop. Pressure!"

"Helvete det værker!"

"And he's cursing in Norwegian…" Duncan frowned. "How are you holding up, bud?"

"Jævla vinsj jækel!"

"Pressure. Coop." Pete repeated as he started to unzip the med-kit. "You're bleeding a lot!"

When he understood that Cooper wasn't going to do what Pete requested him to, Duncan scurried over and took matters into his own hands. Knowing that he was likely to get a hammer of a fist thrown towards him if he went directly for Coop's injured hand, he knitted his fist and trapped it under Coop's armpit.

"Good thinking Dunc…" Pete nodded as he finally found the right dressing in his kit and crawled over to Cooper, "Man, what happened?"

Doing his very best to keep from crying, Coop sucked in a sharp breath. "Winch. Slipped."

"The winch slipped?" Pete asked as he tried to pry Cooper's right hand away from him so that he would be able to put a pressure bandage on the wound to keep it from bleeding as much.

"Breaks didn't work." Cooper bit out, "Bit my hand."

"Come on big guy, let me see that paw of yours…" Pete coaxed as he tried lifting Coop's elbow to get to his hand.

"Is it bad?" Jack asked over his shoulder, he was on his belly looking over the edge, seeing of the package had went all the way to the ground or if it was hanging mid between the ledge they were on and the valley floor.

"Think he took out a blood vessel or two…" Duncan answered for Pete and Coop, as he started rubbing his free hand against Coop's shoulder in an attempt to comfort the tall blond.

"Pete, how bad is it?" Jack asked as he moved back to the group, taking in the scene in total.

Pete shrugged and grabbed a hold of Cooper's forearm, trying to overlook the fact that the large man tried to squirm away from him. "Dunc's definitely right."

"How's the cut looking?"

"A little deep, and about 4-5 inches long." Pete shot back as he started applying the bandage.

If it hadn't been for Duncan already holding on to Coop's left arm, Coop would have hit Pete square on the jaw.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Pete shrank down as he kept applying the bandage, "I'm so sorry man, I know this hurts."

The cusswords seemed to blend together as Cooper tried to twist free from Duncan and Pete.

"Okay, Dunc…" Pete ran a quick tongue across his lower lip, try to let go. Gotta see if this bandage holds up."

Duncan freed his right hand from under Coop's armpit, and tugged the larger man closer to himself, acting like a back rest.

"Well, it's not bleeding through in five seconds flat at least…" Pete let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding.

"Maybe you should stitch it up?" Duncan offered as he tried to provide as much comfort as he could, "It'll probably bleed through pretty quickly…"

"Look at that winch…" Pete threw a hand out to point to it, "It's greasy and rusty and an infection waiting to happen!"

Pete paused to wait for an answer from Duncan, when none came Pete continued, "For the same reason we don't stitch up animal bites, I probably shouldn't stitch up that before someone cleans it out properly!"

Cooper pressing air through pursed lips brought their focus back to him after a few seconds.

"How are you holding up?"

"Hand hurts like hell…" Cooper winced, looking down at his bandaged hand, "Think it's broke…"

"Jack…" Pete turned and waved their leader over, his face serious as their eyes met. He didn't wait for the Texan to get all the way over to him, before he stood up and closed the distance. He lowered his voice as they reached each other, "We should get him back to camp. He can power through and finish this mission, but I don't think that's a good idea."

"You don't think so…" Jack nodded, he agreed.

"No, he's in pain. But that's not the main reason, that cut is dirty. I'm almost certain that it will get infected unless we get someone to do some magic on it in a sterile environment. And he might be right about his hand being broken too, it was already swelling pretty intensely."

Jack nodded again, casting a look over at Coop and Duncan. The bigger soldier sat leaned up against Duncan, his right hand wrapped up in a bandage and held protectively to his chest.

"Look, the rest of us can go on, but I don't like the idea of keeping him on. Infections are hard to calculate. He might get a mild superficial infection, a little puss running from the wound… That might be all, if we're lucky. But he might also end up with sepsis, and we don't want that. Especially not on a mission."

"We can't send him back alone. Can we?" Jack furrowed his brows.

Pete shook his head, "Infections can progress quickly. I don't want to send him off on his own. And he's gonna need help to get down a few of the climbs."

Jack nodded, "We could zip-line him down, then he won't have to climb."

"True…" Pete nodded, eyeing the wire that was set up between the mountainside and the bottom of the valley, "We could use the winch to slow his decent…"

Jack nodded, "I was also thinking about that."

"Who are we gonna send with him?"

"I can't, because I'm the one in charge. I'd like to have you here if something else goes caca…" Jack started counting off.

"What about Box?"

"We probably need that mule for something later… If we meet someone who's only speaking Kurdish, we need him."

Pete nodded, "That leaves Duncan."

Jack nodded, looking over Pete's shoulder again. "He knows how to stop a bleed momentarily, he's strong enough to help that giant if they need to climb…"

"And he knows what to say and do to make all of this a little less painful for…" Pete didn't say Coop's name, he just jerked his thumb towards the man.

"Exactly." Jack gave a short nod, before he turned and looked towards the wire again, "Before we can use that to get them down quickly, we need to get the package up."

"Don't look at me. I'm not touching that winch."

"I think it's a two-man job anyway…" Jack informed before he called Boxer over to tell him their immediate plan.

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"Alright Wyatt…" Boxer nodded, after the three of them had gone over the plan, "Two of us winch that sucker up, pretty boy here guides it down when it reaches the top. Then we hook Coop and Dunc up and send them down the wire… Sounds good to me."

Pete and Jack nodded and looked over at Cooper who had started shaking.

"Hey, Coop…" Jack cleared his throat and stepped towards the Californian, "You ready to get back to camp?"

"No, we've got a mission to finish…" Cooper winced as he tried to straighten up. "I'm good, we should get going."

"Coop, I don't think y…"

"Shut up Dunc!" Cooper grimaced, "We're already past the hard part of this mission…"

"We're not." Jack truth-bombed, "We've got a lot of hard parts left."

"He's right Coop, you shouldn't… You should just get back to camp, get medical attention."

"Nah, man…" Cooper tried swallowing to mask his pain, "Gimme five minutes and I'm good to go…"

"Hey, big guy… This ain't no question…" Boxer chimed in as he moved closer, hunching down beside Dunc and Cooper. "You're going back to camp."

"No, no need to…" Cooper squared his jaw and did his best to fool the others that he was actually doing kinda good, "It doesn't hurt that bad anymore. I'm good to go on."

"Kid, you ain't fooling no one…" Jack sighed and shook his head.

"I'm good." Cooper argued, "Let's just get that damn package up here and we can get going!"

Boxer looked up at Jack and Pete, as if he was asking for permission. A short nod from the two of them led him to look back at the tall Californian before he unceremoniously went for the man's wrapped up hand. Causing the larger man to cry out in pain.

"See, y'ain't foolin' anyone…"

"SonOfABitch!" Cooper cussed with his eyes squeezed shut. "Hell, that hurt!"

"I barely touched your hand…" Box sighed, "You're goin' back to camp, end of discussion."

"But…"

"Nah-uh…" Boxer shook his head, "You heard me. You and Dunc are going back. Me, Pete and Wyatt can handle the rest on our own…"

"Sounds good Box…" Duncan nodded.

"Alright, Wyatt… Wanna give me a hand with the winch?" Boxer nodded towards the offending winch as he stood back up.

Jack nodded and stepped over to the winch, waiting for Boxer to join him. "Pete, take a second look at his hand. See if there's something else you can do for him."

"Alright Boss." Pete nodded, "Just let me know when you need me."

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"You said you thought it was broken?" Pete asked as he knelt down in front of Cooper.

"Yeah…" Cooper dragged his answer out, "I no longer think that's the case…"

"And that scream you let rip when Boxer touched your hand, that was just a ploy?" Pete rolled his eyes, "Come on man, tell me what part of your hand hurts the worst."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Cooper's eyes found his boots.

"Come on buddy…" Pete pressed as he tapped Cooper's knee, waiting for Coop to answer his question.

"Alright…" Cooper shook his head slightly, his voice barely audible, "Thumb… My thumb's worst…"

"Your thumb?" Pete repeated, "Can you move it?"

When Cooper didn't answer Duncan nudged his shoulder, prompting him to answer Pete's question.

"Well, I might…"

"Might?"

"I might…" Cooper's jaw muscles twitched, "I just really don't want to check…"

Sharing a look with Duncan, Pete reached for his med kit once more.

"Now, Coop… I'm gonna need you to let me have a look at that hand of yours again. You might want some support for that thumb…"

"Nah… Not necessary…" Cooper grit his teeth, "I don't need it…"

"Are you for real? Or are you just afraid of how much it'll hurt when he fixes some support for it?" Duncan asked as he rubbed Coop's chest.

"I'll take the silence as 'he's just stalling'…" Pete smirked as he unzipped the kit again and pulled out a foam covered metal thing and an ACE bandage. "Hand me your paw."

Cooper reluctantly did as Pete instructed, letting out a gasp as Pete placed the foam covered splint against his thumb to judge the size of it.

"Okay, just hold your hand there for me, while I fix this a little bit…" Pete locked eyes with Cooper for a split second, long enough to know that Coop was understanding what he was saying. Then he found a pair of scissors and cut the foam covered splint into two pieces. One long and one short.

Looking back up at Cooper he flashed an apologetic grin, "Sorry, this is gonna hurt."

"Already does…" Cooper chocked out, his voice was uncharacteristically thin.

"Here's to hoping it'll be a bit better once we've splinted it…" Pete shrugged as he cradled Coop's right hand in his left and started forming the largest of the two metal splints after Coop's thumb and wrist. Then when he was satisfied with the first part of his splinting job, he went on to wrap the smaller part of the splint over the tip of Coop's thumb, crossed to the original splint.

"Hey kompis…" Duncan whispered, he had his arms wrapped around Cooper's chest and left arm, to make Pete's task safer, "Kompis, you're doing good. He's almost done, just the bandage left now, right? Right Pete?"

"Yeah, right." Pete nodded, "Just gotta wrap it up and we're done."

Taking a few rapid breaths to get some sort of control back, Cooper nodded.

"There, how does that feel?" Pete asked as he sat back on his heels. He was not pleased to see how Coop's face contorted in pain.

"Ask me again in 5 minutes…" Cooper winced, "Think my hand has been tortured enough for this day now…"

"Yeah, kompis…" Duncan nodded, "I think you're right."

"Kompis?" Cooper repeated as he began to relax, "Where'd you get that from?"

"Remembered Charlie calling you that a few times things went sideways…" Duncan admitted as he brought a hand up to rub tension from Coop's neck, "Figured it might help…"

Cooper nodded, "Kinda did…"

"What does it mean by the way? Was it a nickname?"

Cooper hitched up his left shoulder in a one-sided shrug, "It means the same as 'buddy'… Charlie used to call me that when I was a kid."

Pete and Duncan weren't sure whether the pained tone in Coop's voice was from the physical injury, or from being reminded of his older brother and that he would never be there for him again.

"Think the splint's helping a bit Doc…" Cooper exhaled and looked down at his bandaged hand. "Still feels abused though…"

"No wonder," Pete nodded, "You gonna agree that heading back to the camp will be best for you now?"

Looking every bit the part of a sulking 5 year old, Cooper nodded.

"Good, just sit here and rest while I help Jack and Box bring the package down on the ground. Then we'll get the two of you back down the valley…"

"Two of us?" Cooper looked up in confusion, "Look, I can go by myself."

"No-no-no…" Duncan shook his head, "I'm tagging along. What if you run into the wrong people…"

"Then I'll do that alone." Cooper twisted to look at Duncan.

"Hey, I will fight you on it." Duncan looked hard back at Cooper, "And right now your chances don't look all that great."

Recognizing when he was defeated, Cooper nodded. "Okay. You win."

 **Okay, hope you liked this start. I just had to have some fun with these boys/men.  
I'm guessing there'll be two more chapters for this story.  
See ya!**

 **Oh, and one of you kindly asked if I could translate the swearing. So I guess I'll do that… Bear in mind that not every cussword on this planet translates well. I'll translate it to what I guess he would have said in English, even if that won't be the direct translation. Okay?**

Helvete det værker – Hell it hurts (This is word for word translation)

 **Jævla vinsj jækel – Fucking winch fucker (Could also be 'Bloody winch sucker' or something along those lines. This one did not translate as well…)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so you were all for that? Alright, I can work with that! *Grins in an evil manner***

 **And before it's mentioned in any comments, I would just like to say that the group sometimes calls Pete 'Doc' because he's the medic of the group (even though he's not a doctor yet in this fic). Because he doesn't start his studies to become a doctor/surgeon before after the events in Gib's Destruction of Gov't Property.**

It took Jack, Boxer and Pete a few minutes to unhook the package and ready the wire for sending the two men down it.

"Hey, brother…" Duncan whispered, still acting like a backrest for Cooper, "How are you doing?"

"I'm not gonna lie, it hurts like hell…" Cooper frowned. "But it's better than it was five minutes ago…"

"Helps not to move it?"

Coop dipped his head in a short nod, "Yeah."

"So, ready to take the shortcut down?" Duncan asked as he studied the three other men working with the wire.

"Not all for it…" Coop frowned.

"Which part don't you like?"

"Maybe the part about being suspended more than 100 feet up in the air, with one hand that just don't work…" Coop shrugged his left shoulder. He was cautious to move anything that connected to his right hand, even if it was as far away as his shoulder.

"Don't tell anyone this, but that might have freaked me out a little bit too…" Duncan admitted in a whisper, causing Cooper to smirk.

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"It was a real nasty wound…" Pete frowned as he secured two harnesses to the hook on the wire.

"How bad do you think?" Boxer looked up, worry written all over his round face as he went over the harnesses themselves, "Like, what should he prepare for?"

Pete shrugged, casting a glance back over his own shoulder. "All depends on whether he gets an infection or not… And how bad that infection might end up being."

Boxer shook his head, "Poor kid…"

Pete nodded. "And, before he gets that wound cleaned out and checked by a real doctor, there's no way of telling how bad the wound is in itself. It bled too much for me to evaluate beyond 'it bled a lot'… All I really know is, surfer boy over there is taking it a lot better than I would have expected."

"Well, I didn't see it up close before you had already bandaged it, but if you mean he's taking it better than he ought to… That's kinda scary…" Boxer paused what he was doing and looked at Pete, "What are you most worried about?"

"Look, I'm no doctor…" Pete started, "But apart from infections and fractures, big guy over there might have cut over sinews and ligaments. Maybe even nerves. I've got no way of telling right now, not without causing him unnecessary amounts of pain and possibly harming him even more."

Boxer nodded and looked past Pete to watch the two youngest Delta's. "Looks like he's a little more comfortable now at least…"

"It'll probably feel just as bad if he moves his hand again…" Pete shrugged.

Boxer nodded, "Yeah, I remember one time a bull tossed me off. Broke my wrist, not a bad break, but still enough to have the doctor decide that I needed a cast for four weeks or so. Hurt bad at first, but then once I had put some ice on it and kept it still for a while it wasn't half bad…"

"And then?"

"Then I almost convinced the judge that I was good for my second ride. He tricked me into shaking on it…"

"…And?"

"I hit my knees! Ol' Herman Reeves had hands that could crush stone!" Boxer chuckled, "I didn't end up riding…"

"No wonder…" Pete answered with a roll of his eyes.

"How's it coming along guys?" Jack asked as he joined them, finally done with preparing their package for when they could be on their way. He had divided the stuff that originally should have been divided between 5 backpacks into 3 piles and sorted out the stuff that wasn't absolutely necessary. He could hide that here until they made it back.

"Almost ready Boss." Pete answered as he pulled down on the harness with his full weight.

"Good." Jack nodded, before he walked towards Dunc and Cooper.

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"Ready to get down from here?" he asked as he knelt down next to Cooper.

"Wish I could stay and finish the mission…" Cooper answered looking away, "Feels wrong to just pack up and leave."

"Don't worry about that…" Jack shook his head and gave Coop's shoulder a solid squeeze, "Better send you back now and get you back sooner, than having you struggle through this mission and end up in need of more help to get back to normal…"

Coop looked up into Jack's dark brown eyes, then he looked back down at his own arm. "I feel like a wuss…"

"We all feel like that from time to time." Jack smirked in a hope that it would get Coop to relax. He only needed one look at the man to know the younger soldier was downplaying how bad his hand actually hurt. It wasn't necessarily all that hard to fake the desperate look in his eyes, but Jack knew that the blond couldn't start sweating like this on command. Not when he had appeared completely dry two minutes before he started winching the package up. "Right now it's your turn to feel like one. But trust me, none of us see you as one."

"You don't?"

Jack shook his head again, allowing himself to ruffle his hand through Coop's short blond hair. Then he trailed his hand down to where he knew he would find Coop's pulse. He placed two fingers, frowning slightly at how rapid the beats were. Cooper didn't seem to mind him checking his pulse. "Of course not, but you don't press a lame horse, not when it's likely to heal up with a little rest."

"Is that really another one of your Texas proverbs?" Duncan shot in, almost amused by all the different things that had come out of their Boss' mouth over the years they had known each other.

"Dunno…" Jack shrugged, "We might make it one!"

He studied the Californian for a few seconds before he looked towards his backpack, "We should probably fix a sling for you before you need to start moving around. Best to keep that paw sort of elevated."

"You don't need to Boss…" Cooper ground out, "I can just hold my arm like this, don't spend time on making a sling…"

"Just holding it in that position will start aching quickly." Jack shook his head to deny Coop's suggestion, "Trust me, you want a sling."

The blond was just about to protest when Duncan answered for him, "Thanks, a sling would be awesome."

"Traitor…" Cooper muttered under his breath, much to Dunc and Jack's amusement.

"I'll be right back…" Jack noted as he pushed off the ground and went to find some fitting material for an decent sized sling, "Don't go anywhere…"

"Funny…" Coop sighed and rolled his eyes, then he twisted to meet Dunc's eyes, "I really don't need a sling…"

"Sure you don't big guy…" Duncan answered as he rolled his eyes, "Just humor me, alright?"

"I don't n…"

"Just take it, alright." Duncan stared hard at the blond, "If you decide not to wear it later, I won't force you to. But just take the damn sling, okay? It might come in handy."

With a heavy sigh Cooper nodded, "Okay. I don't like it though!"

"Of course not…" Duncan shook his head, with an amused smirk forming on his lips.

"Seriously, I hope you guys don't think I'm this fragile thing that can't take pain, it's just a fracture… Alright… I'm not even sure it's fractured!"

Shaking his head, Duncan twisted around Cooper so that he could reach the larger soldier's right elbow, "Coop, it wasn't just a fracture…"

"It's not sure that it's a fracture even…"

"I'm pretty damn sure it is…" Duncan noted as he gently forced Coop to move his hand into his line of sight. "Even your fingers have started bruising…"

"It's not that much…"

"It's barely 15 minutes since you got injured!" Dunc frowned, "This much bruising and swelling in that short a time is bad. Can you even move your fingers?"

"Don't want to yet…" Coop frowned, "Bet it'll hurt like a bitch."

Duncan nodded, as he studied the exposed parts of Cooper's hand for a few seconds more. "Probably will…"

"What do you think? Are Desert Sand colored slings in this season?" Jack joked as he returned with two 4x4 squares of cloth cut from the tarp that had been used to camouflage their package earlier. "Sit up a little straighter so that I can tie you up as best as I can…"

Coop nodded and sat up, careful of his right hand.

"Now, I think it would be best for you to have your hand up next to your left shoulder, kinda like when you pledge allegiance, what do you think?" Jack asked as he folded the first square into a triangle. "Least movement that way I think…"

Cooper nodded passively, "Sure…"

"Okay, then we do it like that, and we wrap this other one around your chest to anchor your arm to your chest… How does that sound?"

"Great…" Cooper nodded. Not entirely enthusiastic, but understanding that it probably was his best option. "Wanna help me get my backpack back on first?"

"You're not carrying a backpack." Duncan intervened, "That hand disqualifies you from carrying anything."

"It's my hand, no my shoulder that's messed up! And we can't really leave it here either!"

"Then I'll carry it!"

"No. Not a chance in hell!" Cooper stared at Dunc with ice cold eyes, "You're not carrying my bag in addition to yours. That's like 140 pounds or something total!"

"It's better that I carry that much than that you carry those 70 pounds…" Duncan challenged, "I'm not letting one of my best buddies trek through this desert with a banged up hand and a full pack!"

"It'll be easier for me to carry my pack, even with my hand like this, than it'll be for you to carry both." Cooper shot back, his jaw set in determination.

"It's not happening." Duncan shook his head.

"Well, we can't leave it either. You know that. And we can't put it on the others either. They have to carry extra just cause we're not going on the rest of the mission."

"You're not carrying the full load, do you hear me?" Dunc repeated, "Or does the altitude steal all the sound?"

Blowing air through his nose Coop looked away, towards his backpack. He spent a few seconds looking at it before he looked back at Duncan, "Hey, how about we compromise?"

"Compromise? How?"

"The detachables on my pack. We click them off and hang them on yours." Cooper looked over at Duncan waiting for a reply, when none came he continued, "That way I won't be carrying all the weight, and you won't have to carry the double…"

Eyeing the backpack for a moment, Dunc started to nod slowly. "Okay, but I take everything that comes off that pack."

Cooper looked over at the pack again, judging just how much of it that was possible to disassemble before he nodded, "Deal."

"And, I'm carrying your rifle too."

Cooper frowned at the thought of not being armed with his own rifle, "I might as well walk naked back to the camp!"

"Please don't…" Duncan grimaced, "None of us want that image stuck in our heads…"

"Just let me carry my own gun…" Cooper shrugged.

"You can't use it anyway!" Duncan knitted his hands in frustration, "You'll still have your 9mm!"

"I'd still like to carry my own rifle…"

"Just let me carry it, Coop!" Duncan sighed, "Promise I won't mess with it!"

Running his uninjured hand through his hair, Cooper glanced over at the spot where his HK416 rested. After a long second he looked back at Duncan, "Okay…"

"Great."

"But only because it's useless in my hands right now."

"Okay, Duncan…" Jack started and cleared his voice, "Tear Coop's backpack apart and hand me the skeleton. Think he better have it on before I start tying this sling around his neck…"

"Got it Dalton." Duncan nodded and hurried along with his new task.

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It wouldn't work to downplay this. He had already screwed up that shot. Dunc had turned in to one of the most overprotective siblings he could ever imagine, Pete had seen his hand up close and the last two Delta Operators had both made up their mind about how bad his hand was.

He had to admit though, it hurt. Every beat of his pulse set fire to the surrounding tissue. Every teeny-tiny movement felt like shards of glass rubbing against the bones and muscles in his hand.

He decided to hold his arm like Jack had suggested a shy minute ago. At least until he could get his backpack on, or whatever was left of it after Duncan had stripped it of everything that could be taken off. Knowing Dunc, the man would probably take off everything that was meant to be taken off, and then some.

He squeezed his eyes shut as another wave of pain surged through his right hand and forearm. It was blindingly painful, it even felt like all the sounds around him got morphed into a static noise for a second. Then it cleared up again.

"…ood there Coop?" he only caught the tail end of the question, but had enough to piece together what Jack had asked him.

"Yeah. Fine." Oh how he wished his voice could have sounded a little bit more convincing. A little bit more like the tough as nails Delta Operator he was supposed to be.

"You paled…" Jack's voice broke through to him once more, he didn't have to open his eyes to see the worried frown he knew their Boss was displaying, "Literally paled…"

"Just jarred my hand or something…" Cooper winced, "I'm good…"

"Would have been a little more convincing if you weren't giving Casper the Friendly Ghost good competition on who could reach the whitest level of white…" He could hear as the frown deepened on Jack's face, "We could radio for medevac…"

"Nah… Would be embarrassing to get medevac'ed for something as silly as a beat-up hand…" he did his best to keep his tone level. "Just help me with the pack and the sling and everything's good…"

"Here. That's EVERYTHING I'm letting you carry." Duncan's determined voice forced him to open one eye to look at the stripped backpack.

"There's barely anything left of it…" Cooper complained as he tapped the fabric with two fingers, "I told you to remove all the parts that could be clipped off… I didn't tell you to re-pack most of it to your bag…"

"Well, now it's done." Dunc straightened up and folded his arms over his chest, "I really don't think you're in any condition to pack from my bag and over to yours again. Just put it on and Jack can fashion a sling for you."

Hesitantly reaching for the near empty backpack, Cooper started running through options of how he was going to get the backpack on his back without causing himself fresh loads of pain.

"Let me help you, before you hurt yourself further…"

He wouldn't admit it, but Dunc's offer was a godsend. A fractured hand shouldn't hurt this much, now should it? It never had before.

He needed to toughen up. Needed to pull himself together and just power through it. It wasn't so bad… He was just having a bad day. One of those where everything seems worse than it is. Where a little splinter stings enough to make you cuss, yeah. He was having one of those days. He just needed to get his act together.  
It couldn't be that hard.

"Thank you…" he whispered, barely audible, as Duncan held the first strap out for him to just guide his hand through. It truly made getting the backpack on a lot easier.

"Hey… No problem…" Duncan smiled, "You'd do the same for me…"

"You sure?" Cooper allowed himself to tease, thinking back on a few missions where everything hadn't gone as planned.

"Yeah." Duncan smirked, "You've already done stuff like this a few times."

"Okay, now that the backpack's on, I can finally go ahead and secure your arm…" Jack offered a mile, "Come on kid, hand towards shoulder…"

 **Okay. Gonna pause this here. Save more for the next chapter, y'know.**

 **Okay. Hope you're enjoying this…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there! I hope you're doing well! And that you're enjoying this little H/C fic…  
Well, it will definitely pass 3 chapters. I can tell you that much. I don't know how long it'll end up as though.**

It hurt deep down in his soul when Cooper growled as Jack helped him secure the sling that would cradle his arm. It was unsettling, downright uncomfortable to see one of his best friends in such an amount of pain.

His chest seemed to remember Coop's tense shoulders pressed up against him. The way that the taller man had started shaking a minute or so after the accident. The way he went white as a sheet as Pete had worked on his hand, and now again when Jack helped him put on the improvised sling.

He felt the need to interfere. Felt the need to stop Jack, to pull Cooper away from what was causing him so much pain. But he knew Jack was doing something that needed to be done.

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"So-so sorry blondie…" Jack grimaced as he secured the final knot on Cooper's sling, "So sorry bud…"

As he stepped away, he watched Cooper hyperventilate due to the pain. He almost wanted to punch himself. He never liked being the direct cause of his friends' pain.

"How are you doing?"

Coop didn't answer, he just shook his head and kept on grimacing.

"Not good, huh?"

Cooper nodded, his breath slowly starting to even out.

"I could go ask Pete if he's got some morphine in that nice little purse of his…" Jack offered with furrowed brows, "That might help a lot…"

Coop shook his head, "Nah…"

"Hey, you're in pain." Jack frowned, "Some pain relief could do you good."

Coop shook his head, "I can't."

"Why?"

"Cause the bird left when we got dropped off. That's…" Coop paused as he squinted down at his watch and calculated how much time had passed, "That's 6 hours ago. We can't call in and request a medevac. So when I get down there I'll have to walk towards that pass where they've set up a checkpoint. That's 5-6 hours on a good day… This isn't a good day, and I remember how loopy I got the last time Pete gave me up with anything stronger than Motrin."

"Last time he decided Morphine was a better alternative…?" Jack smirked as he thought back at the memory of a drugged up Cooper.

"I'll just have to power through this…" Cooper frowned, "There's no way I'm making that hike with narcotics in my system…"

"Unless Dunc carries you…" Jack teased.

"Yeah, that's not happening…" Cooper shook his head.

"Figured…" Jack chuckled, "I could blow this op. Make up some lie about our gear being broken. Maybe the wire snapped when we were winching the package up here… Call in early exfil…"

Coop shook his head, "No. There's hostages that needs to be saved."

"And you need medical attention."

"Hey, it's only my arm…" Coop winced, "It hurts a lot, but I'm not entirely handicapped either…"

"You're in a lot of pain."

"Haven't passed out yet." Determined green eyes glared up at Jack, "I have wished for it, I'll admit that. But I haven't passed out from pain, and I'm not likely to do it either. There are at least 12 hostages, and they need our help. Look, I get why you're sending me back, I would slow you down. I know that. But for you to blow this op just because I got my hand smacked around a bit, that would just be plain selfish!"

"I don't like this."

"You don't have to…" Cooper shot back, "Look, I'll be fine. I'll have Duncan to look after me, even though that's completely unnecessary… You, Box and Pete have a mission to finish."

Studying Coop for a few seconds, Jack nodded. "Okay, I could ask if Pete's got some Tylenol, Motrin or Advil to give you? Since you're dead-set on not letting him give you any morphine."

"He already gave me a bit more than what's recommended of Motrin…" Cooper said looking over at Pete and Box, "Doesn't feel like it's doing a damn thing yet though… Might take a few more minutes to kick in."

"Okay, so you've already got as much over-the-counter in you as Pete will let you have?"

Coop nodded.

"Okay, anything else you need?"

Coop shook his head, "Nope… Nothing we've got here at least…"

"Okay… Just… Hang in there buddy, we'll get you down pretty soon…"

"I know…" he nodded once more.

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"How's he holding up?" Boxer drawled as Jack made it over to him and Pete. Worried brown eyes darting to where Duncan and Cooper sat.

"He's not comfortable…" Jack shrugged, "But other than that he seems to be okay enough…"

"Sucks that he's got to hike that far to get help…" Pete shot in, "Wish we could just call in a tiny medevac over the sat phone."

"I know…" Jack nodded, "But you know as well as me that nobody should know we're here. And unless there is a critical medical emergency…"

Pete nodded, "Yeah…"

"Cooper knows that too…" Jack offered a glance back at the two other men, "I wish things were different… But…"

Boxer nodded, "Yeah. The worst part is, this missi-"

"Don't you dare try calling it what it sounded like you were about to call it…" Jack held up a warning finger in front of his long time pal, "You know things go sideways in a hurry if you use the E word."

"I wasn't about to call it anything. I was about to say that this mission wasn't set up as one where we have to be alert all the time. There's no high-intensity about it. We're not coming in HALO in a hot zone. We're not going in guns blazing!"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, this mission is as close to a regular hike as you'll get it. Just with a bit extra load and five targets to gun down at the end of it. And of course the rescue of those hostages…"

Boxer nodded, "And we're supposed to come in like ghosts. No one is supposed to know we're even out here. Hell, we've only got three desk-jockeys and two pilots that even know we're out here! Apart from the five of us, there's only five other people in the world that knows that there are Americans in this area!"

Pete and Jack nodded.

"Look, you know I would go against direct orders if Coop asked me to right now. You know I hate seeing my men in pain." Jack sighed as he -ran two hands through his short dark hair, then brought them down to rub over his face, "But the stubborn Californian is determined. He'll walk out of here on his own. He'll find the pass, the check point. And he'll get transport from there."

"You were hoping that he'd beg you to call it in?" Pete's eyes flickered to Jack, not at all surprised when the older man nodded.

"Honestly? Yeah." Jack rubbed his own neck as he cast a glance over to Coop, "Knowing how well he usually push through pain… The kid is scaring me a little bit now…"

Pete and Boxer nodded in agreement.

"I really don't like this…" Jack sighed.

"Well, it's the correct thing to do…" Pete shrugged.

"But is it the _right_ thing to do?" Jack shifted his weight nervously as his frown deepened.

"He's not having it any other way, Wyatt." Boxer shrugged, "And the last time I checked, that boy over there is just as stubborn as you. Changing his mind just won't happen."

"Guess you're right…" Jack sighed and folded his arms across his chest for a short second, before he brought his left hand up to scratch his chin.

"The harness is ready…" Pete shrugged, "No need in dragging this out longer than we have to…"

Jack nodded.

"Ready Boss?"

"No…" Jack shook his head, "But let's go ahead anyway…"

"I'll go help him up…" Boxer informed with a slap on the back of Jack's shoulder. "You can go over the harness one last time."

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"Ready to get going, soldier?" Boxer asked as he reached Cooper. "Your chariot awaits…"

Just the small tug of Coop's lips eased Boxer's mind a lot. It helped him calm down the worry Coop's cries had caused a short time earlier.

"Ready…" Coop gave a short nod, before he held out his left hand, "Help me up, will ya?"

"Of course." Boxer nodded and grabbed a hold of the larger man's uninjured hand, using his own weight to help the other man back up. Once the taller man was vertical, Boxer studied the sling Jack had put Coop's arm in. "How are you holding up man?"

"Good enough…" Coop answered as his brows knitted, "Don't think I'll play the piano for the next couple of weeks though…"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like shit…" Boxer said as he scrounged up his nose, "Hey, by the way… I'm so sorry I touched your hand earlier… I know it had to hurt a whole lot…"

Cooper huffed a short laugh that held no humor, "Don't worry 'bout it… I had it coming…"

"Not really sure you did, kid…" Boxer's eyes crinkled, but not with a smile or joy.

Letting out a long held sigh, Cooper stopped in his tracks and looked down at the short Texan, "Tell me, when are you guys going to stop calling me 'kid'?"

Boxer stopped and turned to face Cooper, pulling his shoulders up in a shrug he looked the man up and down, "When you're no longer the youngest one…"

"Dunc's barely older than me…" Cooper sighed as he placed his left hand protectively over his right elbow, "Why don't you guys call him 'kid' from time to time?"

"He's not the youngest, that's why…" Boxer chuckled, "Come on now, let's get you on your way."

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"Okay, are you guys ready?" Pete asked as he helped Coop tighten his harness.

"Not that I trust this thing, but…" Duncan shrugged, "I don't see any reason for wasting any more time up here…"

Pete nodded, "And how about you tough guy? You ready?" Pete asked as he looked up at Cooper.

"Got a general distrust aimed at all of this…" Cooper answered with a nod to the wire and the winch, "But thankful that I won't have to climb down…"

Pete nodded, "How's the paw?"

Scoffing, Coop pulled up his left shoulder in a shrug, "Like expected…"

"Painful, huh?"

"You could say so…" Coop admitted.

"Well, I stuffed a bottle of Motrin in the upper pocket of Dunc's backpack. In case you need more of them…"

"Thanks, I appreciate that Pete…" Coop nodded, and glanced down at his right arm, "Not really sure if it's helping all that much though…"

"It would probably hurt even more without them…" Pete pulled a short grimace. "But remember, no more than what I gave you at once, okay?"

Cooper nodded, "Okay, Doc."

"I swear, if you guys keep calling me Doc, I might end up applying to med school when I'm done with my last tour…"

"You're not leaving us?" Cooper's face hardened a little bit with the question.

"No!" Pete chuckled, "Not for another decade at least!"

Cooper smirked, "Good, cause I plan on hanging around for a while myself. And I've gotta have my Doc with me… Obviously."

Pete chuckled.

"Same goes for me," Duncan shot in, "You're the only Doc I trust."

Pete looked at the two slightly younger Delta operators and smirked, "Well, looking at those two old-timers over by the winch, I've still got a bunch of years left in me… So don't you guys worry…"

"Hey! WE HEARD THAT!" Jack called out in mock anger.

Duncan smirked as he took in Pete's guilty grin, "Well, we better get going. It's already kinda late, but if we hurry we might actually reach the checkpoint by nightfall…"

Pete nodded, "Take care…"

"You too…" Coop nodded, "And thanks…"

"Don't mention it…" Pete nodded, "Just heal up and get back to us, alright?"

Cooper nodded, "Of course…"

"We'll see you if we get back to camp before they send you stateside." Pete nodded and reached out to give Coop's shoulder a squeeze.

"Alright…" Cooper nodded, "Kick some ass for me too, okay?"

"Always…" Pete chuckled, "Okay, see you soon."

Dunc and Cooper nodded.

 **Okay, that was it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed.  
Have a nice day!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so you're still hanging on? Well, so are Coop and Dunc too…**

"I swear, if they stop lowering us at some point…" Cooper groaned with his eyes closed, "I'm gonna freak out…"

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights…" Dunc replied with slight amusement.

"Never been before…" Cooper wheezed out a chuckle, "But there's a bit of bad blood between me and the winch they're using to lower us with, you see…"

Chuckling, Duncan nodded. "I get it man…"

Cooper opened his eyes and looked down, they still had almost 90 feet between themselves and the valley floor. Then he looked up towards where they had come from, they had been lowered a greater distance than they had left. "Hey, do you also feel like a kitten being carried by the skin of its neck? Y'know, mama cat just lifting it up?"

"Sometimes I wonder about all the weird stuff that churns around in that head of yours…" Duncan chuckled, "Didn't think about it before right now, but yeah… Kinda…"

Cooper was just about to say something else when a grimace seized his features. His eyes shut tight and his whole body tensed up. Of course it didn't go unnoticed by Dunc.

"Hey, breathe…" Duncan reminded Coop, placing a hand on his upper arm, "What's up?"

Forcing a breath, Cooper re-opened his now watery eyes. "I'm just a freaking moron…" he answered breathlessly. Fighting for his voice not to crack.

"Okay, care to elaborate?" Duncan asked, worry etched deep into his face.

Gritting his teeth, Cooper looked down at his arm. Before he donned a cheeky grin that was more of a grimace than a smile and looked back up at Dunc, "Freaking tried to move my hand…"

"Yep… Moron…" Duncan chuckled.

"Told you…" Cooper ground out, letting out a pained sigh, "Aw, man…"

"This sucks…" Dunc frowned, Cooper nodded.

"Sure hope Allie have something to ease this with when we make it back to camp…"

"That cute nurse?" Duncan raised his eyebrows, "5'4", redhead? Freckles for days?"

Cooper didn't answer, but his cheeks did it for him.

"You're having a crush on one of the nurses!" Duncan threw his head back laughing, "That's precious."

"Shut up…" Cooper grinned as he shook his head, "She's… She's cute, yeah…"

"So…? You gonna ask her on a date or something? We could set up a couple of candles on a crate and serve MREs…"

Coop shook his head, "It's never gonna become anything anyway…"

"Hey, never say never." Dunc grinned, "I mean, I'm pretty sure there are girls that like freakishly tall blond guys too… I mean, just cause you don't have my charm…"

"Screw you…" Cooper shook his head, chuckling despite the pain that eradiated from his hand, "You know what I'm meaning… This life, girlfriends just don't fit into the picture…"

Duncan shrugged, "Think Pete started seeing some girl the last time we were back home on leave…"

"Yeah? And how long do you think that'll last?" Coop pulled a face, "Just look at Jack and Box… It just doesn't work out, man…"

"Honestly… Would you have married either of them?"

Cooper rolled his eyes before he looked down towards the ground again. It was noticeably closer now. "You're impossible…"

"I'm just kidding…" Duncan smirked, "But you know what I mean…"

Cooper hitched up his left shoulder, still focusing on the ground below them.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Duncan shook his head. "Hey, come on… You can't just give up on love 'cause it haven't worked out for them…"

"I'm not giving up on love…" Coop chuckled as he looked back up, "I'm just not committing to anything before I'm not shipping out to all the godforsaken places this round rock has to offer, just to have my hand wrecked by an innocent-looking winch…"

"Innocent looking?" Duncan rolled his eyes and quickly ran a tongue over his lower lip, "Man, it had teeth… And I'm pretty sure I saw it breathe fire too!"

"Quit joking…" Coop shook his head.

"I'm serious…" Duncan winked, "Well, at least there was sparks when the teeth on the gear wheel ran past the thing that was supposed to click in and stop it."

"Hah… Funny…" Cooper shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"I mea-"

Whatever Duncan was about to say was quickly forgotten when the smaller wire that was connected to the trolley they were suspended from seemed to give, causing the two men to slide a few yards down the loadbearing wire without anything to slow them down. Then just as suddenly as they had dropped, the wire tightened again and they were brought to an abrupt stop.

"Helvetes faens satans møkkadag!" Cooper cried out, guarding his right arm and curling up as much as he could. The sudden drop and stop had jostled his injury. "Jeg skal aldri nærme meg en fankens vinsj noen gang igjen!"

Duncan was shaking when he reached out for the obviously distressed Californian. His heart felt like it was hammering against his ribcage, ready to burst out on its own. That iron taste had settled into his mouth, the one he connected to extreme stress or extreme exhaustion.

"Hey now Buddy…" he started with a trembling voice, adrenalin surging through his veins, "Hey…"

He managed to hook his fingers around a strap that still was left on Coop's backpack and pulled the blond towards him.

"Hey…" he cooed once more, his heart breaking as he saw the other man's face scrounged up in pain, silent tears like streams down the taller man's cheeks. "Buddy, how you doing?"

A ragged set of gasps was all the answer he got. He watched as the gasps turned into racking sobs.

"Cooper…" Duncan whispered as he squeezed a hand around the back of Coop's neck, frowning when he felt how the taller man trembled. "It's going to be alright, I know it hurts…"

He barely noticed that they kept being lowered. His main focus was Cooper, and trying to break through his pain.

His biggest problem was, he didn't know how. He didn't know what would make his friend feel better, he didn't know what could possibly ease his pain.

So he spent five minutes or so just rubbing Coop's neck and shoulders, while whispering words he hoped would be comforting.

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He could feel himself shaking even through all of the pain. All of him was shaking.

He wanted to scream from the top of his lungs, but all his body seemed to manage was gasps or sobs or general whimpering. He tried opening his eyes, but he couldn't even force himself to do that much.

The pain was all-consuming, it was the captain of the ship. There was nothing he could do. Nothing he could try to get away from the pain.

No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he begged in his own mind, he couldn't control anything. He couldn't stop himself from crying, he couldn't stop himself from shaking, he couldn't even hold his freaking arm still.

He squeezed his eyes harder together, hoping that he would black out soon. Hoping that he would be freed from the agony.

It felt like an eternity. An eternity with nothing but all-consuming pain. It felt like the earth had spun around itself thousands of times, and like the earth had orbited the sun enough times for a decade to pass by him.

"I'll pass…" a distant murmur finally broke through, "It'll end soon, promise."

Coop didn't believe the voice. He wasn't even sure who the voice belonged to, even though it felt familiar.

"Buddy… Can you open your eyes?" it was the same voice. It seemed a little louder, a little closer.

But he wasn't able to do what it pled. It felt like his world would tilt if he managed to open his eyes, something he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do anyway.

"How are you feeling tough guy?" the same voice asked, and Cooper noticed something moving rhythmically between his neck and left shoulder. It was pulling him in, pulling him towards the voice.

"Yeah buddy…" the voice whispered, it was close now, "That's more like it… Just breathe… That's good… You're doing great…"

He focused on the voice, tried to let the friendly warmth fill him and replace the agony.

"That's right buddy, just like that…" the voice encouraged him, "Breathe in… Breathe out… -Much better!"

He realized the rhythmic movement near his shoulder was a hand massaging and kneading it. He wanted to lean into it, towards the comfort of it, towards what seemed like a safe haven in his sea of pain.

"That's it Coop…" he started recognizing the voice now as he slowly but surely started to relax. "Doing great boy…"

"That's right, just hang in there…" he was right, it was Duncan's voice. It was easier to hear now that his ears wasn't ringing with the sheer amount of pain he was in. "How are you feeling? Can you hear me? Open your eyes maybe? Can you do that?"

Cooper swallowed, he had to try. Duncan sounded so damn worried. He swallowed again, fearful that his world was going to tilt on its axis when he tried to open his eyes.

Mentally counting down from three, he readied himself. When he reached the silent zero he cracked his eyes open a small fraction. Enough to let light creep in and hurt his eyes.

"Aw man!" he heard Duncan relax, "Man, it's good to see you! How are you feeling?"

"Hurts." he managed to croak out.

Duncan nodded, "I know…"

Cooper let out a long, low groan. -Dipping into a near primal need.

"That sounded awful…" Duncan winced sympathetically, still massaging Coop's shoulder and neck.

Cooper just nodded. Neither of them found anything to say after that, so Duncan just kept on kneading Coop's neck and shoulders for a little while more.

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"Hey…" Duncan broke the silence when it had lasted a long enough time. "Do you want to hear something that'll make you happy?"

"Yeah…" Coop nodded, whatever could make this suck any less was a welcomed surprise.

"There's only a few feet left before we're on solid ground…"

Coop raised his eyebrows before he looked down just in time to see his feet about to make contact with the ground. A small smirk made its way to his lips at the thought of no longer being suspended from a wire. "Touchdown!"

"Finally!" Duncan grinned too, as he pumped a fist in the air as they 'landed'. "I thought we were going to hang on that wire forever…"

"Well, we luckily avoided that…" Coop actually grinned as he tried to get himself free from the harness. A few seconds later he had to admit defeat and ask Duncan for help.

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"You're doing the right thing Boss…" Pete whispered as he stepped up next to where Jack was studying the two men unhook themselves from the wire.

"You sure about that?" Jack let out a heavy breath before he looked over at Pete, "Sure as hell doesn't feel that way."

"Look, Cooper's tough as they come…" Pete said as he bumped his shoulder against Jack's arm, "And Dunc's there to keep him safe and help or protect him if he needs to…"

Rubbing one hand forcefully against his forehead, Jack grimaced. "I know… I know… But…"

"-You don't like not being there for him?" Pete offered, glancing up at Jack.

"Yeah." Jack nodded, then he looked back at the winch, "Sure hope it wasn't too much of a bumpy ride. I can't have been fun when the wire jumped off the edge for a couple of turns…"

Pete nodded.

"Yeah… Must've been pretty frightening for them…" Pete shrugged, "But looks like everything's alright now. They're both standing up…"

Jack hummed an agreeing, but not completely convinced tone.

"Relax, he'll be fine…" Boxer drawled as he came up between the two other ones and laid his arms across their shoulders. He had already pulled his backpack back on, "No matter how bad it looks right now, that kid'll be back in no time…"

"Y'think?" Jack shot a questioning look towards his best buddy.

"Yeah…" all three of them would have preferred it if Boxer had managed to sound a little bit more sincere when he answered, but given how much Coop's injury had shook them all that was a little too much to ask.

They all spent a good minute just standing there, watching as the two tiny human forms in front of them got lose and moved away from the wire. They waved their good byes and watched as the two guys far beneath them started making their way across the sandy terrain.

"Well, we better get a move on…" Boxer looked from Pete to Jack and back again, "The quicker we start this, the greater the chance is that we get back in time to wave Coop off before they send him back to the US…"

"Yeah, is it Thursday the next planned departure is?" Pete asked, waiting to see the two older men nod, "I don't think there's much of a chance that they set up an extra flight out of here for that injury… So as far as no one else comes in in critical condition, we have until Thursday 1600."

Jack nodded, "Okay. Let's get ready, moving out in 2…"

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About 40 minutes after they had started walking, the pain was almost intolerable again. He had figured the Motrin was shaving the pointiest edge of the pain off, but with all this pain to begin with, it didn't really do all that much.

He kept on chewing the inside of his cheek in an attempt to keep himself from groaning, wincing, cussing or gasping. Duncan didn't deserve to worry about him more than he already did. Besides, it was just a hand. Not a life threatening injury, and definitely not the end of the world. Even though he felt like he had sounded like it was.

He walked a few steps behind Dunc. Not the way they would have done it in any other scenario. They usually were very strict about the injured one not being the last person in a group, but Dunc had agreed to change it up this one time. He used precaution, he stopped every 15 yards and waited for Coop to catch up, and he kept the chatter going for the both of them. Every now and then offering words of encouragement when he sensed Coop struggling.

"How are you doing back there?"

"Good." A blatant lie, they both knew it. "Peachy."

"How about a few minutes of rest?" Dunc asked, studying Coop as he took the last three steps to close the distance.

"Nah…" Cooper shook his head, "I'm good…"

"Yeah, well…" Duncan placed his hands on the waistband of his backpack, "I could use a drink of water and a protein bar… Y'know… Since I'm carrying most of your backpack too…"

Cooper knew that wasn't the reason, but he appreciated it, the easy out.

"Let's sit down and take 5." Duncan snapped his fingers and pointed to a large rock that would be big enough for both to sit on if Dunc shed his backpack. "The check point is open 24hrs anyway, and we won't be worth sand if we run empty."

"Worth shit…" Coop butted in, "I'm pretty sure that's the way you say it…"

"Well, that might be so. But I think sand has a lower value here…" Dunc tossed back, raising one eyebrow. "Sit down, I'll find your canteen."

Cooper nodded as he sat down"Thanks bud…"

"Hey, what are annoying comrades for?" Dunc chuckled as he unclipped the buckles that secured his backpack to his hips and chest.

It didn't take long before Dunc handed him his canteen, with the cap already twisted off. Coop took a mouthful and let it settle in his mouth for a few seconds before he swallowed, he allowed himself another sip before he handed it back to Dunc to get him to put the cap back on.

"Sure you don't want a bit more?"

Cooper nodded, still holding the second part of water in his mouth. He then swallowed it and cleared his voice, "Yeah, gonna need it more later…"

Duncan frowned, "Hey, there are a lot of dried up riverbeds from here and to the check point. I've got some plastic wrap in my backpack and a shovel… Won't have to dig all that deep before I find enough moisture to build a solar still. Drink, I don't want you to get dehydrated just yet."

Cooper shook his head.

"Hey, two more sips, that's all I ask."

Letting out a sigh, Cooper took the canteen once more and took two more sips in the same fashion as the first two.

"Happy now?"

"Very." Dunc nodded, as he took the canteen back from Cooper. He took a few sips himself, and put the cap back on, "Now, I'd like to check your bandage too, just to know you're not bleeding through it too much…"

"Yeah, okay…" Cooper nodded, and deliberately looked away, "Go ahead."

"Thank you…" Duncan nodded as he put the canteen back in his backpack.

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"Good thing is, it looks like the pressure bandage is doing its job. You haven't bled through both the bandages yet, at least." Duncan shrugged as he tied the sling back in position, "Bad news is the reason it has to be there, and that your fingers are a lovely shade of 'not-your-skin-color'."

"Anything I should be worried about?" Cooper choked out through gritted teeth, the minimal jostling Dunc's inspection had caused had sent his pain levels flying.

"Nah, nothing new…" Dunc squinted at the other soldier, "It's just that the bruising is starting to get pretty serious."

Coop nodded and opened his eyes, "Maybe we should get going?"

"In a minute…" Duncan answered, "I just wanna sit down a little too…"

Coop knew very well that Duncan was just saying it to make him feel a bit better about making the break a little longer. Not wanting to admit it, he relished the pause.

"How's it feeling?"

"Hurts…"

"Figured that much…" Duncan rolled his eyes as he sat down next to Coop, "I meant, is it throbbing? Aching? Sending electrical currents?"

"All of the above…" Cooper answered as he rubbed the back of his thumb against his forehead, "And then some…"

"Sucks…"

"You've got that part right, that's for sure!"

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After sitting around for a few minutes, Cooper stretched his back until they both heard an audible pop, then he leaned forward again and rested one elbow on one knee.

"You know we go against a lot of different advices right?" he asked, tilting his head to look at Duncan, "This heat, we shouldn't really walk around all day in it… Technically we should rather set up a tarp and stay in the shadow, and then start walking a little before nightfall and trek trough the night."

Duncan nodded, "Yeah, thinking about dehydration and exhaustion that would be a better option, but…"

"But what?" Cooper asked, trapping his lower lip between his teeth for a second.

"I'd rather step on a landmine during the day than the night." Dunc shrugged, "Greater chance of one of us being able to disarm it then…"

"Well ain't you cheery?" Cooper shook his head.

"Just telling the truth…" Duncan chuckled, "That being said, let's try to avoid it all together, okay?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me…"

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"Hey… You're looking like you're suffering through one of Mr. Dover's math classes…" Boxer said as he jabbed Jack in the shoulder. The three of them had stopped for a quick drink and a few minutes of rest.

"Yeah…?" Jack pouted, "It feels wrong to just have left Cooper and Duncan to themselves."

"I know…" Boxer agreed as he brought his hand up to wipe sweat from his eyes, "But there wasn't much else we could've done…"

"We could have…"

"Wyatt…" Boxer raised a warning eyebrow, "Don't go there. Coop agreed, we all agreed."

"But…" Jack ran a hand down his face, "He's my responsibility… What if something happens to them? What if they get lost?"

"Both of them are excellent navigators, they won't get lost."

"Coop's probably in so much pain he can't think straight!" Jack tossed back.

"Okay, yeah. Sure." Box nodded, "But Dunc's still there. One of them navigating is enough."

"What if something happens to them? What if they get spotted? What if one of them is taken out by a sniper? What if both…" Jack couldn't finish the sentence, but it was enough for Boxer to understand.

"Have a little faith, alright?" Box sighed, "Everything will be alright…"

"I don't like this…"

"They're going to be just fine…" Pete shot in, "They're probably halfway to the checkpoint already…"

"I really don't like this…" Jack repeated, his gaze locked upon a rock formation in the distance.

"I know you don't." Box nodded, "But there's nothing you can do. And we've got a mission to take care of, if you remember…"

Jack nodded, his face hardening just a little.

"Now, Boss…" Boxer looked Jack in the eyes, one corner of his lips quirking up into a smirk, "How 'bout we go and show them desert boys what Texans are made of?"

Jack didn't answer.

"C'mon Wyatt…" Boxer slapped Jack on the upper arm once more, "Ready to show 'em what us Texan boys are made of?"

Jack shook his head with a resigned sigh, before something glinted in his eyes, "Sure, Ma-"

"SHUT IT!" Boxer almost barked, before they both started laughing.

"Okay-okay…" Jack chuckled, "Damn, do you have a radar for when I'm about to say your middle name or what?"

"Nah, I just know ya…" Boxer chuckled back, "And I also know those two boys we sent out on their own… They'll do just fine."

Jack fell silent for a few long seconds, then he nodded. "Yeah, they're great soldiers…"

"Ready to keep on going?"

Jack nodded, and cracked his neck side to side, "Yeah."

"When are someone going to tell me what Boxer's middle name is?" Pete shot in, earning himself a glare from Boxer and a merry chuckle from Jack.

"Well, if I have any say in it, it won't be before my funeral." Boxer sighed, switching his glare to Jack, then back to Pete, "So don't go on getting restless, 'cause I plan to stick around until I'm old and grey."

 **Okay. That was another chapter… Hope you enjoyed this one too! Have a nice day!**

 **-And y'all got the faulty winch scene ys expected. Maybe not in the way ya expected it though…**

 **Translations/Explanations**

"Helvetes faens satans møkkadag!" Hell-fucking-satan's shit-day (I think he would have gone for something a little more like 'Satan's fucking piece of shit day spawned from hell!' to get the same 'air' to it in English.)

"Jeg skal aldri nærme meg en fankens vinsj noen gang igjen!" –I'll never use/get-close-to a damn winch ever again


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello. Friends.**

 **I hope you're doing well!**

"Hey… Dunc…" Cooper called out as he tried to keep up with his friend, his hand felt like someone stepped on it each time his heart squeezed blood through his body, and it felt like the soles of his boots were made out of lead.

"Yeah?" Duncan asked as he turned to face his pal, "What's up?"

"Can we take a break?" he had officially reached his limit. He wasn't even ashamed of asking for it. He NEEDED it.

"Yeah, of course…" Duncan nodded as he closed the few yards back to where Cooper was. "You look awful…"

"Thanks…" Cooper scoffed, before he decided that he wouldn't be believed if he told anything but the truth, "Feel awful too…"

"I bet." Duncan replied as he, much to Coop's dismay, pressed one palm to the taller man's forehead. A few seconds later he brought his other hand up and placed it against his own forehead.

"Don't think I've got a fever…" Coop grit out, annoyed by the palm pressed against him.

"You're probably right…" Duncan shrugged as he brought his hands back down, "You're warm, but not more than I am…"

Cooper nodded. It was a bit reassuring, he had to admit that.

Stepping back for a second, Duncan turned to face westward. It looked like they had a little over an hour or so before the sun would dip below the mountains and hills that surrounded them, allowing darkness to follow soon after. They could just as well call it a night.

"This looks like a good place to set up camp for tonight…" Dunc thought aloud as he unbuckled his backpack and shrugged it off his shoulders.

"We've still got a little daylight left…"

"I don't care…" Duncan shot back, "I plan on making that solar still, check your arm while it's still light and then find the least uncomfortable place in close proximity to lay down and get a decent night's rest."

Before Cooper had the chance to complain, Duncan continued.

"And you. You should sit down, or rather lay down, before you pass out or something!" his worried dark brown eyes went to Cooper's hand nestled against his chest, before he looked at the taller man's pained expression, "You need rest."

"I…"

"You look like crap, we already agreed on that much." Duncan straightened and stuck his chest out a little, "Come on… I'll help you get free from that backpack… And then maybe you can have one of those auto injectors of morphine, we won't… YOU won't be doing anything before tomorrow morning anyway…"

Closing his eyes, Cooper nodded.

"That went easier than expected…" Dunc whispered under his breath, before he cleared his voice and spoke up. "Okay, since you seem to act like it's a good plan… Why don't we just go ahead with the morphine straight away? It'll make it easier for me to check your hand over better."

Cooper nodded and brought his left hand up to find the Velcro that closed one of the pockets on his vest. Even though it was hidden behind his sling, he didn't have any problems finding it with his left hand. He just had to move cautiously not to accidentally bump into his right one.

He pried the Velcro apart without too much struggle, but when he lifted his left arm to actually reach inside the pocket he couldn't do it without causing himself large amounts of pain.

"Wait a minute…" Duncan stopped him, "Let me do that…"

"Nah…" Cooper shook his head, "I'm getting it…"

"You're causing yourself pain…" Duncan chided, "Unnecessary!"

"Getting it…" Cooper answered as his grimace deepened.

"Nah bud…" Duncan dismissed as he knelt down in front of Coop and gently tugged his arm away from the pocket, " _I've_ got it."

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"Here…" Duncan smirked as he held up the morphine pen in front of Cooper's face, "Think I'll let you take it from here on… Do you remember how it's done?"

"There are directions on the pen…" Cooper rolled his eyes, glancing down at the auto injector. "Remove red safety cap. Place purple end on outer thigh. And push firmly…"

"Spot on!" Duncan nodded, "You do that, and tell me when it feels like it's working. I know it's not as immediate as an IV of the same stuff, but…"

Coop nodded and as he reached out and grabbed the pen, "Whatever…"

"Just tell me when it's working, so that I can take a look at your paw…"

"Yes, mom…"

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"Okay guys…" Jack started as he pulled out a laminated map and a compass he had hidden in a pocket of his tac-vest, he studied it for a short second before he looked up at his surroundings, "Looks like we're 8 clicks from our target."

"So in this terrain and with all of this gear we've got about two-and-a-half maybe three hours left?" Box asked, barely trying to conceal a yawn.

Jack nodded as he tucked the map and compass away again. "Look, sun's about to go down. We could strap on our night vision goggles and go on for another couple of hours. But, I don't necessarily think that's the best option here…"

Box and Pete nodded.

"I guess we're all tired and in need of a few hours of shut-eye. We're pretty safe up here in the mountain side, there are no commonly used paths here. It's probably years since anyone was here last…"

"Yeah, it was a real hassle to get up here at least…" Boxer chimed in.

Jack nodded, "I say we stop here and get going early tomorrow.

"Sounds like a plan." Pete nodded, "I'm looking forward to get this pack of my back…"

Boxer nodded in agreement, "Without Duncan and Coop, all that gear became a lot between the three of us…"

"Yeah, it isn't ideal, I know that." Jack sighed, as he clicked open the strap that went across his chest. "But I left all the non-essential gear by the winch."

"And how much was that? 5lbs total?" Box chuckled.

"Something like that, yeah…" Jack nodded as he unclipped the band across his waist too, shedding his backpack as soon as it wasn't strapped to him.

Boxer and Pete followed suit.

 **Okay. This one turned out a little shorter than the others. Had**

 **Hope you're doing well.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, here comes another one… Let's see how it goes, alright? This is already double the length of what I thought it would be… Why can't I ever do anything easy?**

 **And before I forget it, I'd just like to say that you're awesome! All of you!**

The pain wasn't gone, but it was a lot more manageable than it had been. He knew he had four of the injectors left, if needed he could take another one soon, and then again in about 4 hours after that.  
But he decided to tough it out a bit.

They had made it about halfway to the checkpoint, and they had used five hours to do so. Unless he felt exponentially better tomorrow, they would use about the same time then before they reached their destination. And he was pretty damn sure he wouldn't feel any better tomorrow. Fractures (okay, he was ready to admit that was what it was now) never felt better the second day around, no injury of a decent severity ever did.

It was 30 minutes now since he had jammed the needle into his thigh. If he remembered correctly, the intramuscular morphine could take up to 15-20 minutes to set in, and after about 40 minutes to an hour it would reach all its efficiency. He wasn't sure though, just thought he remembered Pete mentioning something along those lines a few months back.  
Anyway, the stuff had started to work, and was calming the shooting pains that had plagued him ever since he messed up his hand hours ago.

Now, when he kept his hand absolutely still, it wasn't all that bad. He could actually unwind. Relax.  
It still wasn't comfortable, but he had powered through worse for days on missions in the past. Tolerable. This was tolerable.

Also, he was kinda thankful that he had decided to lay down flat on the ground, instead of sitting on one of the rocks nearby. He was starting to get kinda dizzy, not bad dizzy –at least not yet. But still, kinda dizzy. And a little tired.

He tilted his head to his left and watched as Duncan put the last finishing touches to the solar still. He contemplated whether he jokingly should ask if Dunc needed any help, but then he remembered that he kinda felt too drowsy to even raise his voice loud enough.

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"How's the status big guy?" Duncan asked as he folded the shovel and put in back in his backpack, he looked at Coop and saw the large man had his eyes closed, "Feelin' a little better now?"

He smirked as Cooper nodded, still with his eyes closed.

"1-10?"

"Still a strong 7…"

Duncan's eyebrows shot up at the lack of deceit. Usually everyone in their merry little band of misfits would rather have their nails ripped out than to easily admit being in pain. Coop was no exception.  
(Okay, some of them would make it sound like the sky was coming down if they got something small, like a papercut. But real pain, that was something different.)

"That thing really knocked you on your ass, didn't it?" Duncan did his best to hold back the laughter that threatened to burst out.

"You knew it would do that…"

Duncan didn't need for Coop to open his eyes to know that the blond was mentally rolling his eyes.

"Okay, that's true…" Duncan grinned, "Other than the hand, how are you feeling? Loopy?"

"Dizzy." Cooper sighed, lifting his left hand up to run it across his face, "Feels like I'm about to take a nose-dive even though I'm already laying down."

"That doesn't sound like a lot of fun…"

"It's not…" Cooper frowned, "And my mouth is dry as this godforsaken place. Kinda nauseous too."

"Nauseous?" Duncan frowned.

"Just a little…" Cooper shrugged his left shoulder, "Not like I think I'm gonna throw up anytime soon."

"Good. Cause I'm a sympathetic vomiter…"

"I remember that…" Cooper answered, the area between his brows creasing at the thought of when he learned that about his friend.

"So… Dizzy, dry mouth, kinda nauseous… Anything else?"

"Everything looks a little funny…" Coop sighed.

"Looks a little funny? How?"

"Blurry and double." Cooper sighed.

"Well, is it bad?"

Cooper shook his head, "Nah, not in itself. But the dizziness makes it more comfortable to have my eyes closed…"

Duncan nodded to himself, "Are you ready to let me take a look at your hand then?"

Cooper nodded and opened his eyes a little, "Yeah… -But I'm n-"

"-But you're not helping me…" Duncan grinned, knowing Coop well enough to know what the next words out of his mouth was going to be.

"Yeah…" Cooper grinned back, before he closed his eyes again.

"Okay, let's go ahead and do it then…"

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He started by untying the knots of the sling.

He relaxed a little as he saw the bandage, at least it wasn't all soaked red.

"Hey bud…" Duncan said as he rubbed Coop's shoulder to get his attention.

Coop opened his eyes a little to glance at Duncan, "What?"

"Gonna need a little help after all, are you able to hold your arm up? Kinda like an awkward handshake with the air…" Duncan asked as he demonstrated how he wanted Coop to hold his arm.

Cooper nodded and let his left hand help his right arm into position. He didn't bother to mask the grimace that flashed across his features.

"Hey, doing great buddy…" Duncan reassured as he pried off the tape Pete had secured the bandage with.

He unwrapped the first bandage slowly, doing his best not to jostle Coop's hand and cause him more pain.

There had been a small rose of red on the first layer of the bandage, and it grew with each and every layer he unraveled. Once he reached the pressure bandage, the whole front of the bandage was colored red.

"Can you take out the pressure bandage you've got in your pocket?" Duncan asked with a nod as he steadied Coop's arm with his.

"You're going to check the wound too?" Cooper scrounged up his nose.

Duncan nodded.

"Think that's a good idea?" Cooper asked while his left hand went to dig through the pocket in search of the field dressing he knew he would find there, "Won't that be like opening up a can of worms?"

Duncan shrugged.

"Won't it bleed a lot if you take that thing off?" Cooper followed up, "It bled a lot when it happened…"

"It has been bleeding a bit since too…" Duncan shook his head, "I need to take a look at the wound. Before we left, Pete pulled me aside and told me everything he thought I had to know about how an infection could progress."

"And?"

"And, I'd like to take a look at it now."

"What are we going to do if it starts bleeding like that again?"

"It pretty much stopped when I blocked the arteries by your armpit…" Dunc shrugged, figured we could place something about the size of my fist there and have you squeeze it with your arm.

"It was fast thinking by the way…" Coop smiled, as he looked up at Dunc, "Pretty impressive…"

"Grew up in ChiRaq…" Duncan laughed with little to no humor, "Miss Waters made sure we knew a bit about how to stop a bleed."

"ChiRaq…" Cooper nodded, "Is it really as bad as it sounds?"

"Some parts are…" Duncan nodded, "I mean, there are some pretty okay places here too…"

Cooper chuckled, "We might need to have a talk about what you define as pretty okay places though…"

"Nah…" Duncan chuckled, "I'm just yanking your chain… But there are some places here that are liveable…"

"Agree on that." Cooper nodded as he placed the field dressing package on top of his chest, easy for Dunc to reach.

"Do you need me to hold your hand up or is it okay if I let go?"

"You can let it go…" Cooper answered.

"Okay. I'll find something to double as an extra fist…" Duncan said as he patted Coop on thigh.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Duncan grimaced as he peeled back the final layer to expose Cooper's hand.

"I don't like that expression you've got now…" Coop frowned and tried to twist his hand around so that he could take a look at the wound himself.

"Don't!" Duncan ordered as he gripped a hold of Coop's forearm to stop him from twisting his arm around to look at it, and causing him pain in the process.

"Sorry sorry sorry!" he winced sympathetically as he saw Cooper twist on the ground, "I'm so sorry!"

"You son of a…" Cooper growled as he clutched his forearm, not daring to get all that close to his wrist and hand. "Hell, that hurt!"

"I'm so sorry…" Duncan murmured desperately.

Cooper shook his head and started working on his breath. Deep inhales and squeezing it out through pressed lips, until he once more had a hold on his pain, and not the other way around.

"Okay. I'm good." he finally said, "Can I please see my hand now, without you trying to rip my arm off?!"

"I don't know if you really want to buddy…" Duncan frowned, looks pretty gnarly…"

"The wound?"

"Yeah." Dunc shrugged, "That too…"

Cooper locked eyes with Dunc, "How bad does it look?"

"Looks nasty." Duncan frowned.

"Looks nasty like, 'I better hope this doesn't scar too badly' or 'you better hope you don't lose this hand'?"

Duncan muttered some curses under his breath as he twisted and turned Coop's hand gently, trying his best not to hurt Coop anymore.

"Looks nasty like you better get a decent round of IV antibiotics." Duncan explained, "You've got an infection going, but I don't see any of the signs Pete warned me the most about."

"So we're good?"

"Okay, now I think I need to have a talk with YOU about your definition of GOOD…" Dunc shot back with a raised eyebrow.

"Touché…" Cooper nodded.

"Now, I better wrap this back up again…" Dunc shrugged, "There's nothing I can do right now anyway."

"So why do you torture me with unwrapping my hand then?"

"I think you know why, if you think about it for a few seconds…"

Coop tried, but his brain was foggy. "Why?"

"Tell you another day…" Dunc winked, figuring that if Coop's brain didn't process quick enough to draw up the right answer himself, he didn't need to know before he was safe and sound.

"Can I see it now…?"

"Sure, if you absolutely want to…" Duncan nodded, "But if I was you, I'd rather not…"

"Whatever…" Cooper rolled his eyes, obviously regretting as soon as he'd done it. Then he carefully twisted his arm around to look at the wound. His complexion whitened as he laid eyes on the infected wound. It would have looked bad enough without the infection and pus that had taken residency there. "Okay, you were right. Didn't need to see that."

Duncan nodded, "Will you just listen to me the next time?"

Cooper nodded gingerly as he turned his hand again so the wound was facing Duncan. "I might…"

Duncan chuckled and nodded, "Okay… Let's wrap this back up and you can get some rest. Huh?"

Cooper nodded at that idea and ran his good hand across his face.

"Okay, let's just wrap this back up, then we won't have to look at it no more…" Duncan winked and picked up the pressure bandage Coop had laid out for him. He tore off the wrap and started to wrap it tightly around Coop's hand. Cursing himself every time Coop flinched or made any sound of discomfort.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"You know what?" Duncan asked a few hours later, he was laying next to Cooper looking up at the stars, and he was pretty confident the other Delta wasn't asleep either, "You don't see stars like these in the big cities…"

"What stars?" Cooper chuckled.

"The about 40 billion stars above us."

"Can't see 'em man…" Coop chuckled.

They were both silent for a couple of seconds before Duncan figured out why Coop wasn't worried about seen all the bright stars that lit up the night sky.

"Oh. Night blindness…" Duncan almost started laughing as well, "Forgot that was something that could happen with morphine."

"I can see the moon though…" Coop said as he brought his good hand up to run through his hair.

"Can you see my hand?" Duncan asked as he sat up and waved his hand in front of Coop's face.

"I CAN'T SEE THE BILLIONS OF BURNING ORBS OF LIGHT ABOVE US! OF COURSE I CAN'T SEE YOUR HAND!" Coop shot back in an annoyed tone, "I can feel the air shifting as your hand pass by though…"

Duncan chuckled, "Sucks…"

Cooper nodded, and Duncan easily saw him in the mild light from the stars and the moon.

"But, it doesn't hurt as bad, so I'm okay with it…"

Duncan kept his gaze at Coop and studied his face in the moonlight, then his eyes traced down to Coop's hand now rested on top of his stomach.

"You know that even though you can't see shit right now, it's actually pretty light out here. I can see you're grimacing."

"Shoot…" Cooper's face broke into a small grin momentarily, "Didn't even think about that…"

"Don't worry about it…" Duncan chuckled and nudged Coop's shoulder with his head, "As bad as that hand of yours looked, I won't hold it against you…"

"Looked pretty bad, didn't it?…" Cooper sighed.

"Yeah…" Duncan nodded to himself, he just hoped the infection would stay superficial, and that it wouldn't enter Coop's bloodstream. He brought his left hand up and looked at the watch, it was a quarter past ten, and Cooper had taken a second injection about 50 minutes ago. He wasn't entirely sure about the tall Californian, but he figured he would be just as tired and ready to sleep as himself. "Hey man…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna go doze off soon, wake me if you need anything… Alright?"

"Yeah… Alright…" Duncan saw Cooper nod and close his eyes, "Think I'm gonna let the sandman do his thing too."

"Okay, night."

"Good night…"

It only took about a minute before he heard Coop's breath even out into soft snores. It sometimes amazed Dunc how quickly some of his teammates could go from conscious and talking, to sleeping soundly once they decided on it.

Fifteen minutes later he felt his own eyes drift shut.

 **Okay. A 2k chapter for y'all. Hope you enjoyed it…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello darlings! Hope you're all having a great day!**

"Coop…" Duncan rubbed sleep out of his eyes, he had been woken up by the sound of pained moans and growls. He didn't really need to lay eyes on Cooper to know that his face would be scrounged up in a grimace. "Coop, wake up buddy…"

He didn't get any response. Not unless you counted what had woken him up in the first place.

"Hey, Too Tall!" he tried a little louder, his voice still rough with sleep, "Wake up!"

Still no answer. He looked over at the blond he laid head-to-head with, he was twisting and whimpering in his sleep. In the light of the full moon above them, Dunc could make out the wet trails left by tears that had run down the sides of Coop's face. Trailing from the outer corner of his eye and down near his ear.

He was hesitant about touching him to wake him up. But seeing as his friend obviously didn't wake up by being called alone, he figured he had to.

He rolled to his side, resting on his left elbow. He looked up towards Coop's limbs were sprawled all over the place, the exception being his right arm, and Duncan made a mental note about being thankful that they decided to lay down the way they had.

"Coop?! You hear me?"

Nope. No answer.

Duncan rolled up on his knees, sitting a little over Cooper's head before he tapped Cooper on the forehead. "Big guy, wake up! HEY!"

Cooper opened his eyes with a groan, but he didn't make any other sound of discomfort after that. "What?"

"Dude, you were either dreaming or in a lotta pain…" Duncan sighed as he rubbed a rough hand over his face. "Figured the human thing was to wake you up and let you set another 10mg of morphine…"

Clearing his throat in an attempt to trust his voice, Cooper nodded, "Yeah, my hand's cramping and it feels like it's on fire." Cooper paused and growled, "It being broken doesn't exactly help."

"On fire? Cramping?" Duncan looked towards Coop's injured hand with concern.

Cooper nodded, "Think it's cramping because of one of the must-be fractures. Think some piece of bone might be jabbing into the muscle or tendon or something…"

"It could be the infection…" Duncan frowned.

"It's cramping inward." Coop gritted out as he undid the Velcro on the pocket that held his personal med kit, "Almost sure it isn't because of the cut on top of my hand…"

 _'Infection like that, I wouldn't be…'_ Duncan thought, but didn't voice his concern. "Anything I can do?"

Cooper shrugged and shook his head, his face twisted in pain.

Duncan felt helpless as he sat on his knees and watched Cooper pull out one of the auto injectors. "Sure I can't help with anything?"

"No." Coop shook his head as he in the dim light tried to make out which end of the injector had the safety cap and which end held the hidden needle. He then quickly pried off the safety cap and jammed the needle end into his thigh. He held his breath for the ten seconds he had the needle in, exhaling first when he pulled it away from his thigh. Looking up towards Duncan he flashed a desperate smile before he admitted "Damn it hurts…"

"I bet…" Duncan said as he cracked his knuckles.

"I can see the starts now though…" Cooper tried to lighten the mood, sensing that Duncan was very worried. "For a little while at least."

Duncan didn't see the humor in it, but feigned a laugh just in case it helped Coop in some way.

"I should take a look at your hand…" he said as a follow up to the laugh.

"You can't…"

"I should."

"We're on full light discipline for this entire mission." Coop grit out, "Can't use a flashlight…"

"I could. No one's here to stop me."

"Some might be." Coop winced, "Up in the hills."

"I could…" Duncan started looking around to find something he could use to cover the lights.

"None of the stuff we've got on hand will shut in the light." Cooper whined, "Damn, my hand…"

"Is it really worth risking your life for light discipline?" Duncan scowled down at Cooper, "You could be in the process of getting blood poisoning right this moment…"

"My life isn't worth risking BOTH our lives for." Cooper groaned, "And it could be that I just jarred it in my sleep."

"You said it felt like it was on fire…" Duncan sighed, "That sounds more like an infection going bad…"

"Sounds like an infection in the first place." Cooper shook his head, looking towards the form of his hand.

"I really should take a look at your hand." Duncan said as he was reaching towards their backpacks.

"Don't." Cooper said curtly as he wrapped strong fingers around his splinted thumb and yanked.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Duncan tried shouting over Coop's cry of pain. "What in the name of… WHY!"

Cooper was too busy trying not to pass out from pain to answer. He cradled his right arm and rolled over to his side, panting like a maniac.

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It took minutes before Coop relaxed. Minutes before his quiet sobs started to even out into proper breaths. Minutes before he was able to form a sentence. Minutes before he was able to sort through the sound of Dunc's voice and understand what his buddy was saying.

"Cooper…" Dunc's voice was no longer loud or accusing, he wasn't mad or furious. He just wanted to help, wanted to end the agony Cooper obviously was in, "Coop, why would you do something like that?"

Sucking air through his teeth, Cooper looked up towards Duncan, "Testing a thesis…"

"Oh, so you're suddenly going scientific on me? Is that it?" Duncan growled with renewed annoyance. "You're stupid, you know that?"

"Think it worked though…" Cooper answered as he focused on taking slow and even breaths, "Hurts like heck, but it ain't cramping up like it did before."

"It ain't?"

"Like I said, hurts worse than you can imagine…" Cooper winced, "But it's not seizing up on me…"

"So that crazy, stupid, knee-jerk hail Mary move of yours actually worked?"

Cooper swallowed audibly, nodded and let out a heavy sigh, "Yeah, feels like it…"

"I should still check out that hand of yours…"

"Let it wait until sun up…" Coop grimaced, "It's not that many hours away anyway."

"Coop…" Dunc started in an accusing tone.

"Hey. Let's just sleep. Okay?" Coop begged, "I'll let you torture me as much as you want tomorrow, just please… Can't we just sleep now… The stars are dimming over again…"

"You're impossible…" Duncan brought his hands to his head in frustration, "You could die from blood poisoning if that infection you've got turns into it…"

"Yeah?" Cooper challenged, "Well, we're out in the middle of freaking nowhere, what are you supposed to do about it if that's the case?"

Duncan had his answer, he just didn't want to say it. Didn't want to admit that it was even an option.

"Thought so!" Cooper said after he thought the silence had lasted long enough, "I'm getting some more sleep. You should too!"

 **Okay, you got a short-ish chapter today. Hope you enjoyed it anyway…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Good freaking day! Hope you're having a fantastic day!**

"Alright guys…" Jack cleared his throat as he watched Boxer and Pete get their backpacks on. "Both of you ready to get going?"

"Yeah, Boss…" Pete grunted as he hoisted his backpack into place, "Ready."

"You, Box?"

"Born ready, Wyatt…"

"Alright…" Jack nodded, "Take a 360 and make sure you haven't left anything.

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"Oh, looks nasty…" Duncan frowned as he studied Coop's right hand. The infection was still only in the wound. There were no red streaks crawling up the Californian's arm, no general weakness that couldn't be justified by the warm weather, and he didn't have any chills he complained about either.

"I'm just gonna take your word for it this time…"

"Smart…" Duncan agreed, looking at the yellowish green that seemed to thickly coat the wound, and the angry red and almost purple edges of it, "Are you able to move your fingers?"

"I don't want to…" Cooper pouted.

"I know, but can you?" Duncan asked, "Bet you can't do it…"

Not one to back down from a challenge, Cooper started curling his fingers slowly. Just about when he reached the point where it looked like his hand would fit perfectly around a computer mouse, a short high pressure sound sounded and the tightness over the back of his hand lessened.

"Forget what I said…" Duncan grouched, "THAT was nasty…"

Then there was a beat of silence, "Damn it's leaking!"

"Leaking?"

"Yeah, pus running down your arm!" Duncan frowned.

"And that sound?"

"Your wound pretty much exploded…" Duncan started as he reached for the recently discarded bandage. He planned on using it to wipe away some of the inflammation that was now running down Coop's arm.

"Exploded?" Cooper was suddenly a little past alarmed, "What do you mean exploded?"

"The sack or whatever around the pus tore open. Goo went flying…" Duncan pulled a grimace worthy of the situation, "-like I said, nasty."

"Did it hit you?"

Duncan shook his head, amazed that that was something Coop would ask such a question in his situation, "No, it flew right past me… But still nasty though!"

Cooper shuddered, then nodded, "Yeah, nasty…"

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"How do you think Coop and Dunc's doing?" Boxer drawled as he sat down on a rock, when they decided to have a short break.

"Coop's probably in pain…" Jack answered in a sullen tone.

"Hey." Pete bumped his fist into Jack's shoulder. "It wouldn't be right for him to trek along here. It's hard enough for us."

Jack nodded, but he didn't shake the troubled expression.

"Pete's right, that part we had to climb half an hour ago wouldn't have worked for Coop…" Boxer nodded.

"Do you think they reached the checkpoint yesterday?" Jack looked between the two other men.

"Not sure…" Pete shrugged, "Like Coop said, it would take 5-6 hours on a good day…"

"Yeah, and he's right about yesterday not being a good day for him either…" Boxer shot in, "Kid was in a bunch of pain…"

Jack nodded.

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Cooper grimaced as Duncan tried to drain as much of the inflammation from the wound as Cooper's painful hand would allow.

They had figured out together that since the infection already had sprung leak, and they were going to put a pressure bandage over it again later, it was best to get rid of as much of the goo as possible.

It took him about 10 minutes before Duncan was content with it and discarded the soiled bandage once again along with his left plastic glove. He then stood up and stepped over to his backpack, he dug trough it with his left hand and came up with a packet of baby wipes.

"You're gonna clean it with baby wipes?" Cooper let out a laugh when he saw the package, "Well, that's gonna be something to tell the kids or grandkids about in the future when they ask how I got the scar this obviously is gonna leave…"

Duncan felt a smile creep up on him, but it was quickly torn away when Coop's face straightened and the blond turned his hand to look at the wound.

"-Or… You know…" the blond let out a loaded sigh, "I figured out what you were… What you were trying to say without saying last night… If I get to keep it…"

Duncan nodded, looking away.

Coop fell silent for a little while.

"Hey, let's do our best to make sure that doesn't end up as our only option…" Dunc said after a while, "And I'm not gonna clean the wound itself with this, I'm gonna clean your arm… Everywhere that gunk ran down…"

Cooper nodded, "Okay, sounds good."

Duncan went on to work in silence until he had Cooper's arm as clean as baby wipes would get it, and wrapped back up in a new pressure bandage and the same old ACE bandage securing the splint.

Then when they were all done with all of the necessary tasks of the morning, they packed up and headed on towards the checkpoint.

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He didn't feel good. He felt nauseous, he felt sick. Felt like he was gonna keel over any minute.

They had been walking for almost two hours, and they hadn't made it halfway on today's stretch yet.

He didn't have a choice, he didn't have a chance. He had to beg Dunc for a break.

"Hey…" he croaked out, "Can we take a short break?"

"Whoa…" Duncan said as he started to turn around, "You sou- You look even worse than you sound!"

Duncan closed the distance between them, his eyes were wide as he reached up to check the temperature of Coop's forehead, "Sit down. No, wait… Lay down, before you collapse…"

Cooper nodded at the order, but didn't make a move.

"Here, let me help ya big guy…" Duncan frowned as he slid an arm under Cooper's shoulders and helped lowering him down. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm freezing…" Coop answered as a shiver ran through him. "That's not normal, right?"

"NO! THAT'S NOT NORMAL!" Duncan practically growled, "Dude, couldn't you tell me a little bit earlier?"

Coop shrugged a shoulder apologetically, "Sorry…"

Without really bothering too much if he would be causing Coop additional pain, Duncan quickly unwrapped the supporting bandage, revealing most of Coop's arm. "Shit…"

"Hm?"

"You've got a telltale sign of starting blood poisoning…" Duncan frowned as he studied the red border that creeped right above Coop's wrist, taking out his marker he traced the line, "Shit… This is not good…"

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A little rest helped, Duncan saw that. Cooper had been white as a sheet when he first turned around, but he was gaining his old desert tan complexion slowly.

"We should walk for another stretch…" Cooper pressed out, his voice revealing how exhausted he was and how much agony his arm brought him.

"Nah, buddy…" Duncan shook his head, "We'll take five more minutes…"

"We should hurry to the checkpoint…"

"Look, I want nothing more than to get you back to camp safely, but I also want to put off carrying you for as long as I can…" Duncan said as he rubbed Coop's shoulder.

"Why is it always the heaviest one that gets hurt?" Coop quoted, "Is that what you're thinking again?"

Letting out a nervous chuckle, Duncan shook his head, "I'm never gonna live that down, am I?"

"Not if I can do something about it…" Cooper grinned, even though it took him a lot of effort.

They were silent for a while, Cooper silently cursing his hand and the whole situation. Duncan silently praying that Coop would be alright in the end.

"Wait, what's that…?" Cooper asked after a few minutes had passed.

"What?"

"That humming sound…" Cooper propped himself up on his left elbow, and started looking around, "Sounds like a car…"

"You're right…" Duncan nodded and stood up, scanning the desert. He was on his fifth 360 when he saw a sand colored vehicle come up over a small hill a couple hundred yards out. "Get up. Get your gun out…"

Cooper did as he was told, but it all took more effort than he expected it to, causing him to sway on his feet for a few seconds.

"We've gotta stop it…" Duncan thought aloud as he tried figuring out where he could intercept the car's path.

"Could be enemies…"

"Judging by the car, that doesn't look like the guys we should fear…"

"Could've stolen it."

"That's what the gun's for…" Duncan rolled his eyes, "Either way, it's worth the risk…"

Before Cooper had the chance to stop him, Duncan ran towards the vehicle.

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"What the…" Ron Dresden started as he saw a human form come in from his peripheral.

"…Hell?" Charles McIntyre finished for him when the Captain appeared at a loss for words. "Stop the car…"

The Humvee rocked to a halt, and McIntyre opened his door, stepping out with his gun in his hands.

"Please, please!" the man who had been running towards them, shirtless with his shirt waving as a flag, begged them, "You've gotta help us…"

"Who are you?" one of the Brits asked, still on high alert.

"I'm Duncan, I've got a friend back there. He needs help."

"Okay…" McIntyre allowed himself a glance back at Dresden, "Are you Americans or something?"

"We're with the US Army, yeah…" Duncan nodded, still a bit out of breath from the small sprint he had performed. "My friend, he's got a nasty infection that I think is turning into sepsis…"

"Why haven't you called for medevac?"

The man grimaced.

"Wouldn't that have been better?" McIntyre tilted his head.

"We would have…" Duncan started, "But you see, the sat phone is with the rest of our team, and we don't have a radio signal…"

"You're alone?"

Duncan nodded as he shook out his shirt and started putting it back on, "We were only 5 hours away from the checkpoint near the pass, we thought… But Coop's in a lot of pain, and he's not making ground very fast…"

"You're going to the pass?"

Duncan nodded.

"That's where we're headed…" McIntyre informed, looking back at Dresden and the other guys on their team. "If you're not picky on travel comfort, you can join us…"

"That would mean the world to us…" Duncan smiled, "Thanks…"

"So, where's this buddy of yours?"

"About 150 yards that way…" Duncan answered as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "Like I said, not making ground very fast…"

"Okay, hop in the back, we'll go pick him up…"

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"If I ever saw 'dead-on-his-feet' it would have to be that guy…" Dresden grimaced as they got closer, "Maccie… Take the backseat…"

"Copy that Captain…" McIntyre nodded as he prepared to open his door as soon as they moved slow enough to get out.

"Hey soldier…" McIntyre greeted as soon as he was on the outside of the Humvee. The soldier slipped his gun back into the holster, and looked up. Dresden was right, this guy looked half-dead. "Come here, we'll drive you the rest of the way."

"Thank you…" The voice coming from the large soldier hurt something deep down within him, and McIntyre couldn't even start to imagine hoe it had to be for his fellow comrade, his brother.

"Let's get that backpack off your shoulders… Is it just to unthread the strap or do you have some other trick of getting it out from between your sling and your body?"

"Unthread it…" the guy nodded, looking like he was about to collapse.

A minute later McIntyre had the backpack off the tall soldier, and tossed it into the back of the Humvee. He then took the other backpack the black soldier had discarded before he ran for their help and tossed that too into the back as the other soldier helped his friend into the passenger seat.

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The blond, tall guy cradled his sling with his arm and leaned back in his seat. Eyes closed. Lines caused by pain and agony making the young soldier looking much older than he probably was.

Dresden frowned as he studied the soldier, how he controlled every breath, how he sometimes squeezed his eyes harder shut.

"How are you doing, Coop?" the other American soldier asked, leaning forward from where he sat crammed between two of their men.

"Been better." The answer was clipped, but more than sufficient to put across how the blond was feeling.

"Pretty sure you could reach in that pocket again now and allow yourself some relief…" the one in the back said, "We're not hiking anymore now…"

"I don't wanna take it while we're in this bouncy nightmare…"

"Sorry…" Dresden shot in, "Can't do anything about the terrain…"

"I know…" the blond in the passenger seat bobbed his head up and down.

"Why don't you want morphine?"

"Gonna get sick if I take it…"

"You've got morphine?"

Coop nodded, knowing that there was no use in lying.

"Well, that's not in the standard med kit…" McIntyre said with raised brows, "What are you guys?"

"Splitting up isn't standard practice either, especially not when one of your mates are under the weather…"

"Can't tell you exactly who we are, but we're some of the people you send in as a last resort…" Duncan answered, "Morphine in our IFAK…"

"Well, we certainly don't have morphine in our Individual First Aid Kit…" Dresden shrugged as he twisted the wheel left.

"Guess it's because we're down shit creek when stuff first goes bad…" Cooper grimaced.

"And when they first go sideways, it's usually in a hurry." Duncan filled in, "Coop, you should take some more for that hand of yours."

Sucking in lower lip for a second, Coop shook his head. He proceeded to swallow and move his lips, wetting them with his tongue every now and then. Then he pursed his lips and started all over again.

"Guys…" Duncan started after studying Coop for a minute. "I think we should stop and let Coop get some air…"

Cooper nodded, "Might be a good idea…"

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Dresden had barely stopped the car when the passenger door flew open and Cooper hurried out.

They heard one massive palm slam against the exterior of the car, quickly followed by Cooper retching.

"Coop, buddy…" Duncan started with closed eyes, without moving from his seat. "You know I'd come out and try to help you if I didn't think we'd both end up sick…"

Cooper tapped the side of the car twice before giving the guys in the car a thumb's up through the window.

It took a few minutes before Cooper was able to return to the car. He was pale, and shivering slightly. He dumped into his seat the way only a near-seven feet tall person can fall into a Humvee seat.

With closed eyes he swallowed and groaned, then he opened his eyes and looked around the car, "Anyone got any gum?"

"Here…" McIntyre said as he reached up front with a pack of chewing gum.

"Thanks…" Coop nodded as he took one and passed the rest back to McIntyre, "Not to sound like a complaining kid or anything… But is it far till we get there?"

"About half an hour…" Dresden answered, "We'll have to take a small detour because of the terrain..."

 **Okay… Hope you enjoyed this one too. Hope I'm not boring you!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello darlings! I hope you're doing fine…**

"Box, Pete, you guys head in first," Jack said as he was unbuckling his heavy backpack. "I'll set up sniper position here, I'll move in after you when I see that you get there in one piece. Okay?"

Both Pete and Boxer nodded.

Pete looked down towards the buildings, "Yeah, we're going to need all of us down there before we'll be able to do anything with any sort of safety…"

"Yeah…" Boxer nodded, "We can't go in there with just the two of us. I'd like to have our numbers a little closer to what we're up against…"

"Yeah, well… I'd like to have Coop and Duncan here too…" Jack nodded, "But there's nothing we can do about that now, so we just have to do our best. Alright…"

"Yeah…" Box nodded, "Still sucks though…"

"What really sucks is that Coop has likely broken his hand…" Pete frowned, "He'll probably have to go back home, and it's not certain that he'll be back before this tour is over…"

Jack nodded, looking somewhat like someone had punched him in the gut, or like it all had been his fault.

"Yeah, that sucks too…" Boxer nodded, "But this sucks for us, right now."

"Yeah, you're right…" Pete nodded, "Could be dangerous…"

"Yeah, could be…" Jack nodded, "Okay, first we take out the hostage takers. We secure the hostages. And if we find the bomb materials that command has a theory about being there, we'll rig it to go up in flames and then we'll get the hell out of Dodge… Y'all ready?"

"Sure Boss!" Pete nodded.

"Yeah Wyatt…" Box smirked, "Let's go!"

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He let Coop stay in the car while he went to get someone to fix a helicopter back to their base.

He found the guy he looked for pretty quickly. He had heard rumors about the guy back on their base. Big guy, not as tall as Coop, but still a bit taller than the average person. He was told to be a mean son of a bitch, supposedly one of the hardest officers to be under. He even looked the part, with a nose that had been broken sometime long ago and scars that disrupted the way his face would naturally move without them.  
Even Duncan felt instinctively intimidated by him.

"Colonel Smith." Duncan nodded as he met up with the man, "I'm Sergeant First Class Duncan Johnson, I've got a soldier that needs to be chopped back to Bagram."

"Well, he can ride with the chopper we've got coming in tomorrow morning."

"No. You don't understand, I've got a soldier with me, who needs medevac. Now." Duncan bit down on his own teeth, he was nervous. He wasn't used to being intimidated by other people, not anymore at least.

The older man, about Jack and Boxer's age looked him up and down. Like he was judging his character or something. "What's the matter with him? Haven't heard gunshots here all day, so he's not bleeding out…"

"He got a cut yesterday and developed sepsis." Duncan shot back, right now he didn't care that his information could be a little erred, it was true enough and if Coop didn't already have sepsis, it was where he was headed. "We came in here with the Brits that came in about 10 minutes ago."

"Sepsis?"

"Yeah, he needs to get to a hospital. Before he loses either his hand or his life." Duncan knew his face went hard, he somehow knew he looked intimidating too.

The older weather worn soldier seemed to stop in his mental tracks as he saw the Duncan's expression, his face softened and he glanced towards the hut where they stored their satellite telephones. Looking back at Duncan who still had one of the most determined faces he had ever sported in his 26 years of living.

"I'll go call in a medevac." the Colonel nodded, "Where is this soldier?"

"He's still in the Humvee we came in with…" Duncan pointed in the general direction of the vehicle, "He's a big guy and he's so drained of energy right now that it would be cruel to move him without good reason."

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"Cooper, are you hanging on?" Duncan asked as he got back to Cooper, he tapped the bigger guy on the cheek to try to get him to open his eyes. It worked, kinda.

"Wha…?"

"How are you feeling, Coop?"

"Are we home?" the blond asked, his eyes were glazed over and his eyelids didn't come all the way up.

"Whoa…" Duncan grimaced, taking in how much worse Cooper looked now than when they had woken up that morning. "You look like shit…"

"This the guy?" Duncan almost hit his head in the frame of the Humvee door when Colonel Smith suddenly appeared behind him, sat phone in hand.

"Yeah, this is him…" Duncan nodded. He still had one hand on Coop's cheek as he looked up over at the Colonel, "As you see, he's not doing too well…"

"Yeah, I see that…" the older man nodded, spending a second to evaluate the blond, "It's his right hand that's the cause of this?"

Duncan nodded, "He was winding up an old winch, something happened and the handle tore out of his grip and messed up his hand. It bled a lot at first, pulsating."

He could see the worried frown on the Colonel's face.

"We managed to stop that pretty quickly, but we knew it was a dirty wound." Duncan shrugged looking over at Coop, "And we're also pretty damn sure he broke his hand when the handle hit him while it was running wild. He's been in a lot of pain."

"Well, ETA on the MEDEVAC is about 20 minutes," Colonel Smith informed, "Should we get him out of there?"

"Nah… Think he's just as comfy here as any other place…" Dunc sighed, "He just asked if we were home, I think he's so fuzzy right now he won't be able to keep his legs under him… And he's no lightweight…"

"Yeah, you weren't joking about him being a big guy…"

"So unless you want to carry him, I say we just let him rest here until that beautiful Sikorsky gets here…" Duncan shrugged, the Colonel nodded.

"So, why didn't you call in a MEDEVAC on location?" the Colonel asked, "I mean, you said this happened yesterday. Wouldn't it have been a lot easier to ju-… Oh… Think I just got it…"

"Hmm?" Duncan raised his eyebrows in hopes that the older soldier would pitch him his idea, "What you think you got?"

"You couldn't."

Duncan nodded, "We couldn't."

"You're special ops?"

Duncan didn't answer, but let himself lock eyes with the Colonel for a split second.

The Colonel nodded and looked at the two men, "You're not going to tell me where you came from, are you?"

"No sir…" Duncan shook his head, "Maybe you can ask some brass about it later… Maybe if you ask the right people they'll tell you a nice little lie…"

The Colonel actually laughed, "Good one…"

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Jack kept his eyes on the area below, he saw Boxer and Pete making their way down towards the buildings. He scanned the area closest to the buildings, then he swept over the surrounding hills to look for anything out of the ordinary.

He couldn't find anything, and it made him feel uneasy.

Just because you don't see the threat, it doesn't mean it's not there. He knew that all too well. It had proved itself to him many times before.

He put his focus back on the main building, then back on his two men who just had a few yards left before they were on level with the buildings.

They stopped, signaled him, and he got up and grabbed his gear, before he hurried in after them. This was so far outside their comfort zone as it would get. They were used to being five men. One to provide over watch and take out any threat that might come from the flanks, four to do the rest. They didn't have anyone to look out for their asses and they were a man short down on the ground too.

He hated this.

 **So, I hope you're not bored by this little piece. I hope it's at least a little angsty and has some pace to it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! Let's see how the boys are doing!**

Boxer was squatted down next to a boulder, he had his backpack pressed against it and had his rifle across his knees. He was facing up the hill, watching as Jack hurried as best as he could down the steep and eroded hill.

His eyes were scanning for threats they hadn't seen yet. None. It was almost as if they had gotten lost, taken a left turn when they were supposed to go right, found a totally different place than they were looking for. It was all too still, too silent.

And that was exactly why he knew this was going to turn bad on them. Not in his life had he ever been on an OP this freakishly calm and lifeless that hadn't turned into a fight for their actual lives. Never.

"What's your feeling Box?" Pete asked behind him to his right. Pete was facing the front.

"I don't like this…" Box admitted, "Feels like we're gonna eat lead for lunch today…"

"Gee, try being a little less cheery, would you?"

"You asked…" Boxer shrugged, "But it feels like we've got someone's scope trained in on our heads…"

"Yeah…" Pete nodded, his voice flat, "It does…"

The words had barely left the younger Delta's lips when the bursts of a machinegun cut through the thick silence.

"WHERE'S THAT COMING FROM?" Box called over the sound, his head on a swivel for something that could give away the gunman's position.

"MY SIDE! SOMEONE JUST OPENED ONE OF THE BLINDS ON ONE OF THE WINDOWS IN THE SECOND FLOOR! WAIT, THERE'S MORE OF THEM!"

Boxer looked back around the rock he hid behind and saw the barrel of a gun poking out through one of the three windows. Then he looked back the way he had been facing just in time to see Jack collapse like a house of cards.

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Suddenly there was no air around him. It was like someone had stolen his ability to breathe. Like no matter how much he tried, he couldn't fill his lungs.

It wasn't the first time. No. Not the second one either. He hoped it wouldn't be the last time.

He couldn't move, couldn't blink. Didn't connect anything. He knew there was noise around him. Knew it was gunfire. He recognized his own name being called over and over, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the spot where his best friend had been seconds before.

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"BOX!" Pete called from the top of his lungs as he found his position and returned fire, "BOX! A LITTLE HELP HERE!"

No answer. Pete fired a couple of more bullets before he hunched down and looked toward the Texan. "BOX, WE'RE TAKING ENEMY FIRE! MIGTH WANT TO DISCOURAGE THEM FROM SHOOTING AT US!"

That's when he saw it, the frozen shock on the older man's face. The distant stare up the hill, the glossy eyes that said something was very wrong.

"BOX!" he felt fear bleed through to his voice, had Boxer been hit without him noticing it? He needed to know.

Pete laid his rifle down behind the rock that covered him, crawled over to Boxer on his knees and elbows. He saw no signs of the older Delta being hurt or injured, at least that was something.

"Box!? What's going on?" No answer.

Pete pulled himself up to his knees beside the Texan. He tried to lock eyes with him, but Boxer's gaze was set too far off. He shook the older man's shoulders, no response.

"Sorry bud…" Pete winced as he knitted his fist and pulled back, before delivering a blow to Box's jaw. Not hard enough that he would worry about the Texan suffering a concussion from it later, but hard enough that he was gonna be sore for a couple of days anyway.

"OW!"

"Hey, what's happening? You went all 1000 yard stare and in case you haven't noticed, I NEED HELP SHOOTING BAD GUYS!" Pete said as he held Boxer by the collar.

"Jack…" it was the only word that left Boxer's lips. It didn't really sound like Jack's name even, it was too heart broken and fragile for that.

"What?" panic gripped at him. Jack? Their Jack? Was he?

"Jack…" it was almost a sob this time, not something the Texan was known for doing often.

"Hey…" Pete shook Boxer, "We've gotta carry on!"

The words cut his own soul. Carrying on without Jack was something he never wanted to think about, carrying on without any of his teammates was something he didn't want to think about.

By the look of Boxer, Jack was already gone. By the look of Boxer, they were going to see Caroline receive a folded up flag and hear Taps being played on a bugle. But they needed to finish the mission, or at least make sure the two of them made it out alive.

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It didn't hit him at first… Or, well. Maybe that was exactly what it did. But it didn't hurt at first.

It was like being tagged with a baseball, but his legs gave out from under him as soon as it happened. He landed face first, getting a lot of sand and grit in his mouth in the process.

Still didn't hurt. Something had to hurt… It just had to.

He laid there for a second, just breathing. Bracing himself for what he expected to come.

His leg still only stung with what felt like a hit from a baseball, but he knew it was worse. Knew it was a lot worse.

Taking a few more solid breaths, Jack steeled himself and tossed himself around. His eyes instantly finding the red splotch that seemed to widen by the second.

Muttering a curse, he reached into his IFAK, pulling out a field dressing. He provided a knife from one of his many holsters, unceremoniously cutting away at the fabric to reveal the wound.

One entrance, no exit. Luckily they were getting picked up here when they were done.

He tried moving his foot, it still worked.

He tore off the packaging, and pressed the thick cotton piece directly on top of his wound. Working quickly he secured it tight against his leg, aiming to stop as much of the blood flow as possible.

Then he took a couple of more breaths. He needed to figure out how bad it was, because right now he had no idea. The pain just didn't seem to register, it had started aching a little bit, but nowhere near the sheer agony he had experienced earlier

He eyed a big rock near his legs, he guided his leg against it and started easing weight on it. It held. If his leg was broken, it was only one of the bones. And since his foot would move the way he tried to move it, and didn't poke out at an odd angle he figured that he'd be able to power through until they were done.

They. Boxer and Pete were below him, and there was still rapid machinegun fire coming from the main building.

He reached for his trusted rifle and rolled over to his chest. From his hiding space, he zeroed in on the first gunman in the window on the second floor. He controlled his breath and squeezed the trigger. He pulled a deep breath as he gentle ache around his left leg grew into a firm one. He found the second shooter in the opening of what he believed was a garage. Breathe. Squeeze. Eliminated.

There was still one gun left. Jack let his scope trace all over the buildings, until he found the third shooter. Aiming in on the figure perched on top of the main building he swallowed. He knew it wouldn't be done after this one, but there was the chance that he would be able to join Box and Pete at their location.

He focused on his breath and put the person on top of the building in his crosshairs. He eased weight on to his trigger, and with the muted whistle of his gun, the valley fell silent once more.

He looked down at his leg. Gathering strength and courage, he pushed to his knees, then his feet. He used everything for support, his leg hadn't hurt all that bad when he first tested it, but that had changed a lot now. He could barely put weight on it, he barely managed to gain yards towards his men.

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Boxer could barely believe his ears when he heard the muted gunshots from up the hill. He would recognize the sound of their rifles anywhere, and it could be no one else than Jack firing back towards the locals.

He felt a little spark of hope ignite in his chest. He didn't dare to trust it just yet, didn't dare to fully believe that Jack would make it out of this mission alive.

But when he saw Jack start limping down towards them, oh his heart kick started.

"Hey, let's get our scopes on those that might be left so that Wyatt can get down here safely."

"Great idea Box…" Pete nodded, "I'll take the right, you take left?"

"Deal." Boxer nodded and prepared to crawl into position, "Let's hurry."

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The Sikorsky touched down by the checkpoint, and Duncan and the Colonel helped Cooper out of the Humvee.

The Californian couldn't put his legs under him skillfully, or pretty much at all.

They managed to lead the tall one to the helicopter and pretty much shove him inside where two medics lifted him into position.

"Good luck, get that boy some medical attention." Colonel Smith nodded and gave Duncan's shoulder a firm squeeze.

"Yes sir, and thank you."

"No problem." the older officer nodded, "You'll be one to look out for when you get a few more years on you… I can't wait to see you around in the future."

Duncan nodded and thanked him as they shook hands. This man he had just met was nothing like the hype he had heard about around camp. He wasn't as scary and as mean as everyone had told him.

"Okay, I better get in after him. Bye."

 **Okay, so… We're done with yet another chapter… Hope you're enjoying it.**


	11. Chapter 11

**So… Let's crank up the angst level a little bit, alright? Anyone up for that?**

 **Also, I'm not a medical professional, so… I went full-research mode and tried to piece together everything. Let's just all act like I did an okay job with it.  
It's fanfiction after all…  
Funfact: Ended up researching it in Norwegian for once, because the sites I found there was a lot more straight forward about all of it… That's a first.**

"How is he doing?" Duncan asked the main medic who was working on Cooper.

"His temperature is through the roof." the medic stated, "He's barely responding to stimuli… It's a good thing we're on our way back to Bagram and that he's already got an IV with antibiotics trying to calm whatever infection he's got going…"

Duncan nodded.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"Hey, missed me?" Jack drawled as he limped in behind Pete and Boxer, no more shots had been fired after Jack took out the last gunman.

"More than we'd like to admit." Pete chuckled as he allowed himself to take a look back at Jack, "How are you doing?"

Jack shrugged and sank down where Boxer had been seated earlier, "Got a bullet stuck in my leg. Think it had to be a ricochet, think it would have been a through and through if it had been a direct hit…"

"I asked how you were doing, not what happened to you…" Pete shot back, eyes trained on the buildings once again.

"Fine. I'm doing fine." Jack answered as he sucked in a breath that undermined what he had just said, "How's it looking over there? You think we have a chance to get in there before nightfall?"

"We don't know how many hostage takers there are…" Boxer sighed, "We know there is 12 or more hostages, but in reality we have no idea about the bad guys."

"In other words, this sucks." Jack shot back with a grunt.

"It has sucked since yesterday." Pete added, "I don't know about you, but I feel there has to be more than three guys waiting for us…"

"You're probably right…" Boxer agreed, "Wyatt, any plans?"

"The plan WAS to sneak in unnoticed…" Jack hissed as his leg burnt, "Guess we can scrap that plan and head on over to Plan B…"

"I thought this was Plan B…" Pete said as he glanced over at Jack, "Plan A was having Box up in sniper position while we went in in team of twos. Dunc and Coop, me and you…"

"Plan C then…" Jack corrected pinching the bridge of his nose, "Please don't make me use my brain right now Pete, I can barely think straight…"

"Is it hurting bad?"

"No… I just have a BULLET in my LEG!" Jack almost barked back, "Of course it's a little uncomfortable!"

"Need me to check it out?"

"No, I need us to get done with this mission." Jack answered with shut eyes, "I want to get back to camp, see how Coop's holding up and get someone to take an x-ray of my leg and remove the bullet in it…"

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"His blood pressure is low, 81 over 55…" the medic on the right said, Duncan could hear everything with the team said over the headphones they had handed him before they took off. "And his heartrate is high. 154."

"That's tachycardia…" the other medic grimaced with a nod towards the screen where a green line ran across the screen showing how Coop's heart was working. Even Duncan could see something was wrong when the second medic pointed it out, at least with the knowledge that Coop hadn't just finished a marathon. His heartrate spiked even higher before their eyes.

The first medic tore open Coop's shirt and cut open his t-shirt, while the second one prepared the paddles of the defibrillator they had with them.

Duncan's mouth went dry. He had known Coop's situation was bad, but this was an eye-opener. There wasn't anything he could do to help, and it freaked him out. He couldn't do anything but sit and watch as the medics worked on his friend.

"Charge to 200…"

Duncan didn't really know what it meant, other than that the medic to Coop's right told the medic to the left that he should ready the machine to shock Coop. If 'charge to 200' meant charge to 200 watts, ampere, joules or volts, Duncan had no idea.

"Everyone, hands off!" the medic with the paddles in his hands prepared, giving the others a second to pull away from their patient, "All Clear?"

"All clear." the others answered in unison, leading the medic to press the paddles against Cooper's bared chest.

Duncan watched in controlled horror as the medic gave a final warning before he pushed the buttons that delivered the shock. Coop's body jerked as a result. There was a pause, nobody said anything for about 3 seconds while they checked stats.

"Again, bring it up to 250 this time."

"250." the one kneeling by the body of the machine repeated and adjusted the settings.

And then the ordeal repeated itself. Duncan didn't realize he held his breath, not before the medic who handled the paddles sat back with a smile, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a normal heartbeat."

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"No…" Boxer stared hard into Jack's eyes, with one hand pressed up against his chest as if to stop him, "You should stay behind here. You can barely put weight on that leg, Hoss…"

"I can." Jack bit out with pure, distilled determination, "You two can't go over there alone."

"And you can't go over there at all! What if the rest of them, because there has to be more of them, decide to open fire? You can't run for safety!"

Jack's jaw tensed, "You're not going over there alone."

"I don't care. You're not putting yourself out in the open when you can't sprint." He ended it with a good shove to Jack's chest, causing the other Texan to step back on his bad leg and hiss. Remorse flashed behind Boxer's brown eyes before he regrouped and managed to use it to his advantage, "See? You can't go out there like that.

"I can. I will." Jack almost growled, "I'm the boss here, remember?"

"Like you think I won't go against your direct orders anytime I think it's for the best?" Boxer challenged as he got right up in Jack's face, "You're not going across that open area. Y'hear me?"

"Box…" Jack's eyes went small, "I'm not letting you and Pete enter those buildings alone. Not happening…"

"We'll be fine Boss…" Pete shot in, earning himself a near lethal glare from the team leader.

"Do I have to hogtie you here?" Boxer jutted his jaw, "You know I will."

"Okay…" Jack grimaced, "Okay… I'll stay behind. But if something seems off I'm coming in after you!"

Boxer stared at Jack for a stretch, then he nodded. "Deal. But as sure as we're not in dire need of your help, you're staying here."

"Sure…" Jack shrugged.

"Jack Wyatt Dalton…" Boxer drawled, "Stay here, or there'll be hell to pay."

"Sure."

"I mean it, I'll play dirty." Boxer warned, one meaty finger jabbing against Jack's chest, "I'll even sink as low as telling the only person I KNOW you're afraid of about this…"

"You wouldn't…"

"Oh, I would!" Boxer nodded, "Definitely!"

"You would be incriming yourself too…"

"Incriminating." Boxer corrected without thinking, "No, I wouldn't. I'm just doing my job, Caroline knows what it's about already. You're already hurt, and you won't be able to do the job as good as you could have done it if you weren't hurt."

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Jack hunched down behind the rocks Pete had hid behind earlier. He was basically on ground level, same height as the top of the doors and windows from the first floor at least. Not the most strategic place to take up a sniper position, but it would have to do.

He wanted to follow Pete and Boxer. He wanted to be there with them, it felt fundamentally wrong to let the two of them enter the buildings alone.

Any sign of trouble, he would go over there. He was just waiting for an excuse.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Duncan's brain couldn't process all the stuff that happened when they landed at the hospital. At the hospital, not the medical facility at the base. Everything went so fast, there were lots of fancy words he had no basis to understand.

A team met them, wheeled Coop away on a gurney. Duncan tried following them, but was stopped outside the third door they were about to send Coop past. A stocky nurse blocked the doorway for him, "Sorry, but you can't come in here… I will have to ask you to wait in the waiting area."

"But…" Duncan looked after the team that rolled Cooper away. He contemplated wrestling past the nurse to follow Coop, but realized that there could be a chance of being banned from the hospital if he did, or at least a good chance of making some enemies.

"I'm sorry, no civilians past this point." the nurse apologized, even though he was a soldier, he was still counted as a civilian here, "You have to go to the waiting area. We'll have someone come tell you if there are any major changes."

"But…"

"Waiting area. That's the best I can offer you." the nurse shrugged, "Have a coffee or drink some water… We'll take care of the other guy."

"Is he gonna be alright?"

"We'll do our very best." the nurse said.

 **Okay… So… We all got past that mess, right?**

 **I mean, there's chapters and stories that go as you plan, and then there's this thing…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay… Another chapter up. Hope you'll find this captivating enough.**

The two Delta's stood by one of the doors of the main building. They both had their guns ready as they prepared to enter.

"How about I get the door open, you take point." Boxer suggested, looking over at Pete.

"Sounds good," Pete nodded, as he squared his shoulders and pumped his chest out, "I'm ready, let's do this!"

Boxer nodded and lowered his gun to have it at his side and make it easier for him to kick in the door.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Duncan sat with his elbows on his knees, his head rested in his hands and his fingertips rubbing at his temples. He despised this setting. There was way too much he couldn't do anything about.

Time seemed to stretch way beyond its normal pace. He felt like he had been sitting there for hours when he looked up and saw that only 20 minutes had passed.

"Dammit Coop…" he muttered under his breath as he buried his face in his hands again. He really couldn't see how the tall blond could recover from this much. Sure, recovering from a broken hand he could see. Recovering from that wound, yeah… Still possible. It had looked nasty from the start, even without the infection that he had developed. But it was mostly just a wound, Duncan didn't think it had cut over anything except a couple of blood vessels. The wound had stretched from the base of Coop's thumb, right by his wrist, and up towards his index finger. Duncan couldn't think of anything important located there, but of course… He wasn't a doctor. He could be wrong, very wrong. But the inflammation on top of all that?  
Duncan didn't like it, and he sure as hell wasn't sure that Coop would ever make it back to their team.

Duncan let out a nervous breath and dropped his head, his fingers finding a point to knead near the nape of his neck.

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The door flew open. Boxer moved out of the way and the air exploded with sound a millisecond later.

Pete looked over at Boxer who stood by the opposite side of the door opening, "Grenade or flashbang?"

Boxer bared his teeth in a grimace, "Flashbang. They could keep civilians in there, we don't want to blow 'em up…"

"Great point." Pete nodded and got one out, looked at it in his hand and then up at Boxer, "I'm still taking point."

"As you wish…"

"You focus on the left, I take right."

"Deal." Boxer nodded, "Let's get this going before Jack thinks something's wrong and comes limping over here to help us out."

Pete nodded and pulled the pin before tossing it into the rather dark room. He brought his gun back up just as the flashbang went off with a loud bang and lots of light. The two of them went in straight after.

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Jack heard the gunfire. He was about to rise up and go after his men when he heard what he supposed would be either a grenade or something that resembled one.

So he settled down for a little while longer. He was still on high alert, super focused on everything.

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Pete took out two men before Boxer was through the door, then he found a third one on his side of his side of the room. He heard Boxer fire four rapid shots.

"Room's clear." Boxer declared in his gruff voice.

Pete nodded and gave the room an extra onceover. "No hostages here, on to the next room."

"Yeah…" Box nodded, "Whenever you're ready…"

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Sitting still in one of the chairs wasn't working for him. He stood up and started pacing the waiting area. He walked up and down along the longest wall.

He knew it could take a while, he also knew it probably would take a good while before they were done with Cooper.

Another look at the clock on the wall, barely 10 new minutes had passed.

It was frustrating. He wanted to know, he needed to know.

He paced faster. Up and down the hallway. He stopped. Started again. Faster, slower, faster again. Walked and walked and walked and walked.

He so desperately wanted to know. He wanted the nurse, or any other person in there taking care of Coop to come out and tell him that his goofy oversized puppy was gonna be alright.

Because, seeing him in the state he had been in the helicopter sure wasn't doing him any favors. Duncan was on the straight track to losing his mind. What was he supposed to do?

After pacing for another couple of rounds, he stopped, backed up against the wall and sank down.

A part of him, the instant gratification part, the part that surged on adrenalin or whatever, the part of him that loved leaping into action and extreme situations… That part of his brain screamed at him to get up and rush through those doors, to go find Cooper and figure out exactly how he was doing.  
But then there was the other part of him. The part that had kept him safe so many times, the part of his brain that calculated pros against cons, the part of him that was able to differ what he wanted and what was the best choice. That part of him told him the same the nurse had told him. Sit tight, wait for updates, drink some water, have a coffee.

He rubbed at his temples again. This week was giving him a headache. A stress headache, he was pretty sure. Or it could be he hadn't been drinking enough.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Boxer tore the door open for him, Pete entered.

Not a second later someone opened fire on them. Pete stumbled backwards, falling to the ground by Boxer's feet. He scurried away, to the safety of having one of the walls between himself and the shooters.

"You good?" Boxer worried, "Did he get you?"

Breathing rapidly Pete shook his head, his fingers going to his right sleeve, finding a hole in the fabric. "A freaking bullet made a hole in my shirt…"

"Were you hit?" Boxer asked as he sank down to be closer to Pete's level.

Pete swallowed and shook his head, his fingers still checking out the hole in the sleeve of his shirt. "No… Just took the shirt."

"Okay, let's try not to get any closer than that… Alright?" Boxer said before clearing his throat.

"Yeah. That was close enough." Pete agreed, his eyes wide with shock, "Flashbang?"

"Yeah…" Box nodded, "Whenever you've caught your breath."

 **Okay. So… Another chapter down. Hope you're having fun.  
I've got a few fun things planned for the next couple of chapters, still not sure if my plan is going to work out.  
-I won't be sure of that before it's written, really… **


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay… Let's go! This'll be fun, right? Yeah… Of course.**

 **Hah, so… Y'all know me, right? Terribly whimsical and all, always way too many projects on hand? Yeah? Yeah…**  
 **Today I figured,** _Hey, I have my mother tongue (Norwegian), and I know one extra language pretty well if I had to brag (English), I wouldn't stress too much if I suddenly found myself in Germany, and I probably would survive if you dropped me off in Russia with enough money to get by on (I would have to gesticulate a lot, but I'd probably get better in Russian after a few days/weeks) Why don't I try to learn yet another language, at least well enough to manage simple conversations and well… Not die if I ever was dropped off in a country where that was the language…_ **So, yeah… This girl found herself yet another project.  
Now I'm trying to learn Spanish, from scratch…  
-We'll see if I stick to it and actually learn something, or if it'll just be another one of those… "Oh well, tried… Failed… Whatever…" things.  
\- Wish me luck!**

Pete pulled out the pin of his second flash grenade, giving Boxer a nod he threw the grenade into the other room. He grabbed a hold of his gun and hopped in after the explosion sounded.

They went for the same tactic. Pete took out the right side of the room, Boxer took the left side.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

If things hadn't gone bad yet, it was only a question of time. That was his belief anyway. He had been with this group, been the leader of it too, for long enough to know that something was destined to happen.

He pushed himself to his feet, testing his injured leg with a grimace. It was going to hurt a lot to follow Box and Pete, but he couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

His face knitted as he stepped down on the injured leg. It felt like someone had a hand wrapped tight around something inside his gut. He squared his shoulders and looked up towards the buildings. Then he hobbled towards them.

He almost collapsed when some pebbles he stepped down on slid out from under his boot, causing him to take a double step. Letting out a grunt of pain, he forced himself to keep going.

He reached the door he had seen Boxer and Pete enter earlier. He had his gun to his shoulder as he limped inside. He swept across the room with his gun, just in case someone was there to shoot him when he got to the center of the room.

He made his way over to the open door. Every fourth or sixth step ended up being a hop where he didn't use his left leg at all.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Boxer was right about to declare the room cleared when a door on the left side of the room flung open.

Both of their guns went up, both of them squeezed their triggers when they realized that it definitely wasn't one of the hostages.

Both guns went 'click'.

Boxer's heart shot up to his throat, he could almost hear Jack's condescending voice asking him how many times he had to tell him to count his rounds.

A sharp shot rang through the still air of the room.

Boxer allowed himself a glance over at Pete. Worried that the shorter Delta would be laying in a pool of his own blood. None of them had had the chance to reach for their handguns, or to reload.  
All he saw was two confused brown eyes staring back at him.

Then, looking forward again, he saw the guy who had barged through the door with a gun seconds earlier, lying in a heap in front of them.

"You guys do know that it is a good thing to know that you actually have bullets left? Don't ya?" Jack drawled behind them, tying it all up with a pained hiss as he stepped towards them. "Cause I almost didn't come after you to save your ugly hides…"

 **Okay, this was a short chapter. Sorry.  
I'm not able to make long-ish chapters every time. And to be honest, reaching 1000 words per chapter used to be a challenge for me (honestly, 500 was difficult too once upon a time –oh how things have chaged…)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello again, nice to see ya! Hope you're having a great time!**

"You shouldn't be here…" it left Box's lips before he really thought it through, his concerned eyes darting to the bandage wrapped around Jack's calf.

"You'd both be dead right now if I wasn't…" Jack shrugged, "I'm not letting you two outta my sight again."

"I don't think you should walk on that leg…" Pete frowned, as he reloaded, "Looks painful."

"Thank you Captain Obvious…" Jack growled back.

"Hey, look at that, you got up-ranked!" Boxer chuckled, "But I thought your last name was something different…"

Ignoring Boxer, Jack continued, "It's fine. It's not too bad…"

"You see, the more times you try to convince me of that, the less I believe you…" Pete cocked a brow towards Jack.

"Well, then maybe you should stop bringing my leg up in conversation, then I wouldn't have to tell you I'm doing fine…"

"Wouldn't bring it up if it looked like you were actually doing alright…" Pete hitched up a shoulder, then he looked at Box, "How about I clear rooms, and you try to keep him from overusing that leg?"

"Or I could clear the rooms, you help him…" Boxer shrugged.

"You're closer in height…" Pete sighed, "Easier for you… And him…"

"I don't need…"

"-Not up for discussion!" Pete interrupted, "Boxer is helping you, whether you like it or not."

"Yeah, Wyatt…" Boxer nodded as he stepped over and pulled Jack's left arm across his own shoulders, "Lean on me…"

"If you start singing, this right here could turn into a chokehold awfully quick… You know that, right?" Jack warned, causing the other Texan to chuckle.

"What? You don't like my singing?"

"No." Jack shook his head, chuckling lightly, "You can't carry a tune in a bucket."

"Aw, that's not nice to say to someone…" Boxer grinned, "Now, should we get a move on? Finish this up as fast as possible?"

"Nah… Let's take our time with it…" Jack replied, his voice filled with sarcasm. "Come on, let's go."

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They were all on high alert as they moved through the rest of the building. To their surprise they didn't find anyone else. No hostages, no bad guys.

They stopped by the last door, one that led out back.

"Ready?" Pete asked the two others, "You cover me until I reach the second building, then I cover you…"

Jack nodded as he let go of Boxer's shoulder and leaned up against the wall instead, raising his gun to show that he was ready. Boxer also raised his gun and gave Pete a nod.

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It went smoothly. Pete made it across the open area. Not a hitch.

"Ready brother?" Boxer asked as he gave a sideways nod that insinuated that Jack should use his shoulder as a crutch again.

Jack nodded, grabbed a hold of Boxer's shoulder and they followed Pete.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Right in the middle. Right between the main building and the next building. That's when the silence got exchanged for rapid bursts from an AK-47.

They didn't know where it came from, but the sand flying up on impact around them suggested that the gun was pointed at them. –And that was really all that mattered.

"Run!" Jack yelled as he drove them both forward, his aching leg momentarily forgotten.

They both crashed down when they reached the wall. Jack grimaced when the pain in his leg worsened. To his left he heard Boxer groan.

He looked over at his best friend and saw his face twisted up in pain.

"Box!" he gasped, sitting up and pulling Boxer further behind the relative safety of the wall, "Box, are you hit? Where are you hit?"

Boxer growled as Jack rolled him around, he gritted his teeth and tore open the Velcro that secured the right side of his vest, allowing him to slip his right hand under the vest itself. A second later he brought his hand out for inspection, relieved when it came back not smeared in blood.

"I'm good." He gritted out, "Just caught, two in the vest. Front'n'center."

"You sure you're good?"

"Knocked the air outta me…" Boxer answered with a pained cough, "But yeah. Good."

"You scared me…" Jack frowned looking down at Boxer's vest as Boxer secured the Velcro again.

"Good…" Boxer forced a grin past his grimace, "Gotta get my revenge sometimes. Got years of your stunts to make up for…"

"Not very funny Box…" Jack rolled his eyes, and patted Box's shoulder.

"Well, if neither of you are seriously injured, I would like to figure out where they are shooting from, other than in that general direction," Pete shouted and pointed to the area that was hid behind the wall, "-and do something about it!"

"Yeah…" Boxer nodded and got to his knees and picked up his gun.

 **Okay, here you have another chapter. Hope you liked it.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello friends! Hope you're doing fine!**

Rubbing a hand over the vest and the spot where the two bullets impacted, Boxer's brows knitted together. Clearing his throat he looked over at the two others.

"Any ideas on how we're supposed to get out of this mess?"

Jack looked towards the corner, the people who had been shooting at them wasn't doing so now. Whether they were waiting for them to show themselves or they were moving positions, he couldn't tell. "I guess it would be better to go around the other way. But one of us should stay here and poke a gun around the corner. Make them think we're still here…"

Boxer nodded.

"Okay, then I go around the corner and you guys stay here…" the way Pete said it didn't leave it as a question or offer.

"No, I should…" Jack shook his head as he got up from his seated position.

"You can't walk properly…" Box rolled his eyes, "You're not going."

"Well, you look like you need a 10 minute break…" Jack shot back, "And they're probably planning on coming over to check on us if we don't answer them soon…"

"Answer them…" Pete smirked.

"Shoot back, you know what I meant!" Jack growled.

"Well, anyway… I'm the only one of us who's able to sneak around and possibly get the drop on them." Pete said as he wiped away some sweat with the back of his hand.

Boxer looked over at Jack and saw him pressing his lips into a thin line, clearly not overjoyed by Pete's conclusion.

"Okay, so…" Pete shrugged, "Are you guys ready to draw their attention to you?"

Boxer nodded straight away, while Jack needed a second or two more to figure out that he couldn't twist anything around and somehow convince his two soldiers that he should be the one to attempt sneaking off to neutralize the threat.

"Get ready then," Pete winked, "I want to get back home to camp and check how much Coop's been annoying the good doctors and nurses."

"Oh boy…" Boxer chuckled, "Sure makes me glad I'm here getting shot after, instead of in some medical ward trying to poke a needle into that surfer boy…"

"He's not Jack…" Pete chuckled, "I could place an IV on Coop any day, no problem. But doing the same to Jack? That's borderline dangerous."

"I'm not that bad…"

"You are…" Box and Pete sounded in union.

"-Last time I had to stick a needle into you, I ended up with a black eye." Pete scowled.

"I was in pain…"

"Not because of the needle."

Jack shrugged, "Whatever, let's get to work. The faster we get done, the faster we get back to camp, the faster we can see how Cooper's doing…"

"And the faster we can get someone to take a look at that leg of yours…" Boxer filled in.

Jack nodded gingerly, before he squinted over at the two others. "Okay, let's start. ¡Arriba arriba! ¡Ándale ándale!"

"Sure, Speedy Gonzales…" Boxer chuckled and rolled his eyes, "And maybe when we're done, you can go rob the Ajax Cheese Factory…"

"Ready?" Pete asked.

"Ready." Jack confirmed as he hobbled the last two steps back to the corner and knelt down, allowing Boxer to stand over him. Mentally counting to 3, Jack pointed his gun around the corner and fired. Before he had the chance to pull back behind the wall, a new hail of bullets started raining down just a few feet away.

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Pete hurried along in a crouched jog. He had his gun up and ready, hyper-alert to anything and everything.

He got to the second corner and faced the open area he had to cross before he could eventually sneak into the right building and get rid of the problem.

But first he had to make it past the 120 feet of open area, where he would be an easy target if anyone was watching.  
But he didn't have a choice. There weren't any other ways across.

He peeked around the corner, saw no one before he pulled back behind the wall. Taking a deep breath, he looked around the corner again. He saw the barrel of a couple of guns poked out through a couple of the windows of the smaller building. None of them were pointed in his direction, and he guessed that they were all too busy trying to take out Jack and Boxer.

Taking a few good breaths, he readied himself for the 40 yard sprint. His heart was already running wild in his chest. He loved a real adrenaline kick just as well as the other Delta's, but this right here… This felt like a genuinely bad idea.

He gripped tighter around his gun, with a final thought of 'now or never' he sprinted away.

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He skidded in behind the next wall like a baseball player trying to steal home.

Allowing himself to let his head fall back for a breath of relief before he picked himself up and headed for the next corner.

He carefully peeked around it, making sure no one was ready to take his head off. There was no one there. Not much of a surprise really, he figured everyone thought all three of them were behind the other building.

He brought his gun to his shoulder and rounded the corner.

He stopped by the window. He liked it better than the door. They probably hadn't booby-trapped the only door in the building they were in, but he didn't trust it just the same. He didn't trust the window either to be honest, but he liked it better than the door. He just had a gut feeling.

He gently swung the wooden window shutter to the side, thankful that it didn't squeak. He did the same with the other side. He could still hear the angry gunfire on the other side of the building, in a way it was comforting. –Not that Jack and Boxer was getting shot after, but they were behind a solid wall and in relative safety.

There was something that could pass as drapes hanging on the inside. He picked his knife out of its holster and brought the tip to the drape to move it away enough to get a look on the interior.

It was darker inside, he saw people sitting on the floor. The hostages. He did a headcount of the ones he could see. 9, he got to 9. He couldn't get a view of the whole room. He knew there should be at least 12 of them, there could be 3 hidden in the parts of the room he couldn't get a view of. But that meant there could also be hostage takers in the parts of the room he couldn't see.

It was a game of chance.

They were screwed either way.

They couldn't call for backups.

They couldn't scrap the assignment.

They couldn't call anyone before they were done.

They couldn't win this without taking risks.

He squeezed his eyes shut and whispered a silent prayer just in case it helped, he opened his eyes again and slid the knife back into its holster. He stepped to the side of the window, so that he would be covered by the wall.

Then he pushed the drapes to one side and almost expected someone to start shooting at him.

It didn't happen.

He allowed himself to step forward and look into the room.

Lots of frightened eyes locked at him, no one said anything.

He pinned the drape on a nail that looked like it was there for that general purpose, then he diverted to mock-sign-language. Eyes locked with one of the hostages that sat right in front of the window.

He held his arms like he was holding a gun, then he ran his right hand in a circle pointing to the ground like a construction worker would to inform the crane operator to bring the load down, but he did it to mark the area, then he pointed inside the room.

The hostage shook her head. Then motioned towards the room behind the wall with her thumb.

Pete smiled and started to crawl through the window. Not a difficult task in itself, but scary when you had a room full of trigger happy gunmen a few feet away.

He made it into the room safely. He allowed himself to look around quickly. Now that he was inside, he saw 12 hostages. Which fit to a T with the intel they had got.

When his eyes swiped across the door, he almost barked out a laugh. –He managed to keep it in though.

His gut feeling had just saved his ass.

Looking over at the other room he saw that everyone had their attention directed at where Jack and Boxer was. Perfect for him.

He put down his rifle and snuck over to the door, he quickly clipped the tripwire and freed the grenades that were pinned against the door.

Then he hid behind the wall and waved at the hostages, getting their attention.

In mock sign language, he started giving them instructions. He pointed to the far wall, and mimicked shoving something in that direction. The hostages understood quickly and silently moved towards the wall. Then he signed for them to cover their ears. Once everyone was up against the corner and covering their ears, he pulled the pin of the first grenade, tossed it inside. Pulled the second and threw it in after. Then he sprinted towards the hostages.

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The grenades exploded and Pete hurried over to his gun. He picked it up without slowing down, bringing it up to his shoulder he entered the room. He swiped over the room.

There was one guy still moving. A second later, Pete made sure he didn't.

He checked all of the others. None of them were breathing any longer.

He stepped back into the room where the hostages were.

"Any of you hurt?"

All 12 shook their heads.

"Great." Pete offered a smile, "Do you know how many of those guys we're up against?"

"I… -I think it was 20…" one of the hostages said, his voice shaking.

"Yeah, I think so too…" another one nodded, "I didn't count, exactly, but I think it was 20…"

"I counted, I got to 18…"

"I got to 20…"

"21"

"Okay, so around 20…" Pete nodded and stepped back to look at the mess in the other room. "Okay, so… Boss took out 3, I took out 3 in the first room, Box took out 4… Then I took out 2 in the second, and Box took 1… And then Jack took 1 again… That's 14. Plus…"

Pete looked over the room again, this time counting the bodies.

"14 plus 5… We've got 19." he calculated, "If we're really lucky that was all of them…"

He stepped back into the room with the hostages, looking at them he made a point out of acting relaxed, hoping that the poor folks would start to relax a bit too.

"Okay, so we've taken out 19 now. I need to sneak back to my guys, they're the ones still shooting outside…" Pete offered with a smile, "Ready to follow me?"

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"Think we can stop shootin' now…" Jack drawled as he put his gun down and shifted into a more comfortable position. His left leg sure didn't enjoy the way he had been perched the last five-ten minutes or so. "They're not shootin' at us anymore…"

Boxer nodded and lowered his gun a bit. "Looks like Pete got 'em…"

Jack nodded and tried moving his foot. Hissing as it protested.

"How is it?"

Jack shrugged, "Feels like I'll be outta commission for a while… You're gonna be in charge around here for a couple of months…"

Boxer chuckled, "Well, at least I won't have to deal with being in charge of you…"

"Hey, be kind…" Jack smacked the back of his hand into Boxer's leg, "I'm hurt and bleedin' here…"

"What have I told you about makin' that a habit?" Boxer drawled, shaking his head slightly.

"Not to…" Jack flashed something between a grin and a grimace.

"Yeah… Guess yo-" Boxer started but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps on gravel. He turned around and raised his gun. The footsteps stopped right by the corner.

"Lower that gun, it's just me…" Pete's voice filled the air, "-And the 12 people we were sent here to retrieve…"

"How'd you know?"

"Box, we've been working together since I was 24, and the two of you were a little less petrified." Pete teased as he stepped around the corner, "I knew you probably heard us walking up on you, and I know how the two of you work…"

"Okay…" Boxer shrugged, "Point."

"You took out the guys over there?" Jack shot in with a nod towards where they had taken fire from a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, we've taken out 19 in total now. These guys guessed there were between 18 and 21 of them so…"

"So we might find a few more not so welcoming people?"

"Yep…" Pete nodded. "I say we clear the last two buildings, rig whatever explosives we find to blow up when we're at a safe distance and get the heck out of here… Jack needs medical, you look like you need a bucket of water and I know I need one too!"

"Medical's not that far up on my list yet…" Jack squinted up at him, "I want a bucket too…"

"Damn this sun, right?" Pete chuckled.

"Yeah, someone needs to turn up the AC…" Boxer shook his head and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

 **Okay, that's another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.  
Sorry for not putting Cooper, or Duncan, in this chapter. Coop's still unconscious and Dunc's still just worried outta his mind if you wondered. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello there! Here I am again. Thanks for reading and commenting! I really get a kick out of reading what you think about it!**

"Okay, we need to find the explosives, and then get the heck outta here…" Jack said as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Yeah…" Boxer nodded, "But someone's gotta look after these peeps. So why don't you just sit back down again and not stress that leg of yours before you absolutely have to?"

"Nah… It's good…"

"I'm with Box on this one…" Pete nodded, "You were limping pretty badly."

"Limping?" one corner of Box's lips turned up in disbelief, "He damn near can't put weight on that leg!"

Jack knew Boxer and Pete were right, but it was hard to admit it. Letting out a heavy breath he finally nodded and leaned against the wall while he sank back down. "Okay, alright… You win…"

"That's better…" Boxer smiled, "Now me and Pete check this building first, and then we take the last one. If we're lucky we'll find the explosives quickly, and no one else will shoot at us before we're outta here…"

Jack nodded, "Just don't do anything stupid…"

"We usually leave that up to you, Boss…" Pete smirked.

"Now Doc… Be kind…" Jack shook his head gently, "Okay, you two take care of business. Let's get done and go back home…"

Turning to Pete, Boxer cracked his neck before he asked, "Okay Pete, which side is the door on?"

"Just around the corner…" Pete tipped his head in the direction of it. "Let's go…"

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"Maybe I should go first this time?" Boxer offered, "You must be tired of going first by now…"

"You can dream old man…" Pete chuckled, "I take right, you left?"

"Alright." Boxer nodded as he prepared to kick in the door and move out of the way.

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The door sprang open, Pete entered with Box straight behind him.

"Shit…" Pete whispered under his breath as soon as his brain registered that there weren't any bad guys in the one room building.

"Indeed…" Boxer nodded, "This is a bit more of a problem than we expected…"

"Good news is, it doesn't really matter that Jack and the hostages are right outside this building if it should blow up…"

Boxer nodded again.

"How big a hole do you think all of this would make?"

"I don't know…" Boxer frowned, "But I do know I don't plan on sticking around long enough to figure it out…"

"Yeah…" Pete nodded, "Let's just… Close this door up and walk away. We'll call in some EODs or something to dispose of it when were done here…"

"Great idea…" Boxer nodded as he studied the barrels and crates, "I mean, we both know a little about all of this…"

"-But we don't have any reference for what this much could do…" Pete filled in.

"Exactly." Boxer sighed, "If smells like ANFO…"

"Yeah, it stinks of diesel here…" Pete nodded, "But if you look at that one over there…"

Boxer followed the line of Pete's finger, finding a sticker that read C5H8N4O12.

"That's PETN…" Pete frowned.

"Is it smart to have those two in the same room?"

Pete shrugged, "Do I look like a genius to you? I don't know… Probably not. I wouldn't say it was smart to have these kinds of explosives in the first place!"

"You're probably right about that…"

Pete nodded, his eyes scanning over the containers before he pointed to another one, "I don't even know what that chemical formula stands for…"

"Me neither…" Boxer coughed and started backing towards the door they had come in through, "Let's get outta here… Leave this mess to itself."

Pete nodded and followed Box's example.

They closed the door and shared a nervous look.

"Better hurry along… Just in case that all decides to blow up on itself…" Boxer rubbed a hand against his neck, "I don't wanna be here when it goes kaboom."

Pete nodded, "Yeah, let's just give Jack a little update. Then we take the last building."

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Once they had told Jack, they snuck over to the last building.

There weren't any doors or windows on the wall facing them, which made it easier for them to cross the open area now that they were pretty sure that the other buildings were empty.

"Think we'll find anyone?" Pete whispered as they reached the first corner.

Boxer shrugged, "Time will tell…"

"Guess it will…" Pete nodded and walked along the wall, "I'm first in."

"Okay…" Boxer chuckled as they neared the second corner, "You do know you sound like an adrenaline junkie sometimes?"

"Huh?" Pete turned around and flashed a wicked grin, "Never heard such foolishness before."

Boxer chuckled lightly.

"But in my honest opinion, I'm not the worst of us." Pete looked back before he was about to round the corner, "You're all AT LEAST just as bad…"

"Hah, guess you're right…" Box nodded as Pete rounded the corner.

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Pete cleared his side of the room, Boxer cleared his side, not one shot fired.

Pete pointed to the doorway, and Boxer crouched over to it. Pete followed.

Boxer motioned that he would go first through the doorway, and that he would take the right while Pete should take the left. Pete nodded.

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The two of them went through the opening. Nothing.

"Okay, looks like this building's clear…"

"Gotta have a little luck sometimes, right?"

"Yeah…" Boxer nodded, "What do you say we retrace our steps through the first building? If someone was in here, they could easily have snuck out that door and gone into the first one without us noticing…"

"Let's do that, then we can call in EXFIL and all will be good." Pete nodded.

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The first building was as uneventful as the last had been. If you didn't count the incident where Pete almost took the head off a poor cat when it jumped down from a shelf.

There weren't any other problems and they could get back to Jack and the rescued hostages.

"No one?" Jack asked when they got close enough to talk.

"No one." Boxer nodded, "We can officially call in and ask to get picked up."

"Great." Jack grinned and adjusted his position, causing a faint grimace to cross his face.

"How are you doing by the way?" Pete asked as he undid his backpack and tossed it on the ground. "How's the leg?"

"It's fine, doesn't really hurt when I'm not moving it…" Jack shrugged.

"But if you move it?"

"Then I feel it…" Jack admitted, the corners of his lips curving down.

"Another reason to get back to base as soon as possible then…" Pete winked, as Boxer stepped over to Jack's backpack and found the sat phone.

"Yeah, let's go home…" Jack agreed, then he looked at Box, "You callin' it in?"

Giving a short nod, Boxer started hitting the buttons.

"Yeah, figured some of the info might be a little delicate…" he paused and looked at the rescued hostages, "Figured it would be easier if I just walked away a little bit and called it in."

"Alright…" Jack nodded, "Sounds good."

"Hey, don't forget to request EODs…"

"Believe me, I won't forget that…" Boxer nodded as he started heading out of earshot.

 **Okay, that was today's chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello my darlings! Let's see how it's going for our guys. Okay. Yeah? Great!**

 **First of all, let's just forget all we ever knew about confidentiality and shit. It's fanfiction, and yeah…**

It felt like time itself had slowed down to a crawl. He looked up at the clock, four hours had passed since they got there. It felt more like four days to him.

He looked up when the sliding door opened again. Just another no-name nurse or doctor going.

He rubbed rough hands down his face and sighed. He shook his head and stood up for the seventieth time or so to walk up and down the hallway yet again.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

After about five laps up and down the hall, he sat back down.

He went on to pump his foot against the floor. This whole situation was really getting to him. Having one of your friends being taken into a part of a hospital you weren't allowed into, and then being left without a single word of an update for four hours, that's stuff that'll shake you.

The door opened again, and Duncan looked up again. This time he stood up as soon as he saw the stocky nurse from earlier.

She nodded to him.

"How's my boy doing?" Duncan asked as soon as he was close enough to whisper, which was completely unnecessary. He was the only person waiting there, the other people had gotten their news and gone away.

The woman's lips quirked up, but then she composed herself. "His stats have been more or less stable for the last two hours, they're not good yet, but a lot better than when he was brought in."

Duncan nodded, he didn't want to interrupt her.

"The doctors have performed a surgical debridement, removed the contaminated and necrotic tissue, and closed the wound." the nurse explained, "They haven't done anything about the fractures he had. They found it better to just stabilize it for the time being, and then when he gets to Germany or back to the US, they can fix it under better conditions there. At least one of them require surgery."

Duncan nodded again, waiting for more. When she didn't go on, he managed to formulate a question or two for her.

"So… Is he going to be alright?"

"It's still too early to tell if his hand will heal properly and if he'll end up having full function of it. They had to remove a good bit of tissue, so that could affect his motor skills. And the superficial branch of his radial nerve was damaged, but it was so distally that it probably won't cause too much problems for him. He might end up with some numbness on the back of his index finger and maybe a small portion of his hand, but he could also walk away with full sensation in his hand."

"Is there a chance that he could be completely fine?" Duncan sorta felt faint as he asked the question, this could mean the end of Coop's future in their group, "Like, without any disabilities?"

"We've seen everything around here." the nurse sighed, "I'm not saying everything's gonna be alright, because I can't promise that. But there's always a chance."

"So, there's a chance that this won't be his last tour?" his legs felt borderline funny as he asked, like sitting down would be a wise choice.

"That all depends on a lot of stuff…" the nurse shrugged apologetically, "Unfortunately I don't have a crystal ball to look into…"

Duncan nodded, and brought his hands up to rub at his temples again. "When can I see him?"

"They're finishing up now, they just have to wrap his arm up. We'll transport him to the ICU, and you can see him then. He might not wake up straight away though… Just so you know it…"

Duncan listened intently, and nodded. "How long does he have to stay there?"

"Well, he's got a 10-day course of IV antibiotics ahead of him… So I think the doctors would like to keep him here until that's done."

"And that's something he'll have to go through here and not back on base, right?"

The nurse nodded, "If something should turn for the worse before we're sure he has beat this, we'd prefer to have him here."

"Ten days, so he'll be done here on a Saturday, right?"

The nurse thought about it, then nodded. "Yeah, that should be right."

"So unless someone has changed up the regular departures around here, he'll have 5 days from when he's done with what needs to be done here and until he gets shipped home. Unless they suddenly add an extra departure for some reason…?"

"Yeah…"

"Is there a chance that he could spend that time on base, I'm pretty sure we can take care of him there then. Or, the kind nurses there could?"

"It's possible, but we want to see how he's doing by then before we really make up our minds about it. Okay?"

"Okay." Duncan nodded. Then he brought his arms up, placed his hands on the back of his head and stretched his neck with a pained sigh.

"Is your neck bothering you?" the nurse asked as she kept her blue eyes on him.

"What? No…" Duncan grunted, before he changed his mind and nodded, "-Yeah… I'm just tense though. Muscles in my neck and shoulders decided to go haywire while I was waiting here…"

"How about a headache?" the nurse tilted her head a little, looking up at the man, "Do you have that?"

Duncan nodded, "Not the worst one I've ever had, but yeah… I'm working on a headache too…"

"It's not uncommon…" she nodded.

"Let me guess, stress? Right?" Duncan chuckled and squinted down at her.

"I was going to wrap it up for you tough guy, but yeah…" the nurse nodded, "You're stressed out. Not a person here who wouldn't be…"

Duncan nodded and sighed once more.

"That, or you could be a little dehydrated." She shrugged, "Come on, I want to see you drink some water… Before we have to admit you due to dehydration…"

She waved him after her, and he followed with a slight chuckle.

"It's probably just stress." he shrugged, "Not the first time my neck hasn't enjoyed waiting around for stuff like this…"

"A little bit of water won't be bad for you anyway…"

"You're probably right…" Dunc admitted.

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The nurse sure had been right about one thing. Cooper wasn't waking up straight away.

But it didn't really matter all that much either. As long as he could keep his eyes on the oversized Californian puppy, and both watch and hear him breathe, Duncan was good.

Besides, he guessed that Coop being unconscious meant that he didn't have to feel all the pain he probably was in. He didn't know if that was the case, but he tried comforting himself with the thought.

He looked up at the bag and line that fed antibiotics into Coop's left arm. Watched the slow drips of the fluid in the drip chamber. 10 days of that was going to bore the shit out of Coop once he woke up. But it sure beat the alternative.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"-Are you sure?" Boxer frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "There's gotta be something you can do…"

"Sorry…" the Captain he talked with answered, "There's a situation west of here. All spare choppers got sent there to help out."

"Did I mention we have a guy who's got a bullet in his leg?" Boxer pressed, knowing Jack would have strangled him for it.

"Is it life threatening?"

He couldn't lie. But he didn't want to admit it wasn't either, so it took him a few seconds to answer. "No."

"Then he can wait until we've got a bird free."

"Look, you know why we were sent here. We've got the 12 hostages. 10 healthcare professionals and 2 diplomats. Don't you want them back to safety as soon as possible?"

"Aren't they safe where you are?" Boxer wished he could crawl through the phone and personally choke the guy on the other end, "You've taken out all the hostage takers, haven't you?"

"Well, did you even pay attention?" Box was seething, "I said we had large quantities of at least three different explosives here. And neither of us knows if they'll spontaneously combust for nothing."

"Things don't just blow up by themselves…"

"No, but there is a thing called chemical reaction. And I'm pretty sure the diesel fumes in that room could play a part in some not planned chemical mumbo jumbo that could put quite a dampener on this sunny day!"

"Then why don't you just bring the hostages to a safe distance and wait there…?"

"It's quite easy sitting behind a desk and coming up with answers, isn't it?" Boxer rolled his eyes, "I repeat, we've got one guy who can't really walk. AND we don't know what the safe distance would be."

"Carry him…"

"WE. DON'T. KNOW. WHAT. THE. SAFE. DISTANCE. WOULD. BE." Boxer repeated, fury boiling in his chest.

"How much is it?"

"It's a building about the size of two 12 person tents side by side. And it's pretty much stuffed as full as these guys could get it."

"That's a bit more than our intel suggested…"

"You've gotta be kidding me!?" Boxer almost barked out a laugh, "Two extra crates would have been 'a bit more', this is around 10 times more than what you were expecting! If not more!"

"Are you sure you can't just…"

"If you say go to a safe distance I swear I'm…" Boxer trailed off with a growl, "If you can calculate how far we would have to go, that would make it a bit easier. But we've still got a man with a bullet in his leg, and I'm willing to bet good money that leg is broken as well. And one of the diplomats looks like he would keel over if we made him climb anything…"

"Can't you just go by the valley floor?"

"That's not a good idea chief…" Boxer shook his head, "Remember? They saw activity there when they were scouting this area. Chances are that there'll either be mines or some other nasty surprise for us in the bottleneck of that route."

"Look, I'll send a bird when there's one that's not occupied with other stuff. You've just gotta hang on until that."

"Okay." Boxer answered with venom in his voice, "How long will that take?"

"It'll take the time it takes."

"12 hostages, one injured soldier…" Box repeated, "And enough explosives to make this place light up like the sky on the 4th of July!"

"I'm sorry, my hands are…"

"You've got favors to pull." Box growled, "Don't act like you don't."

"Look." The Captain started, "I'll see what I can do… But I'm not making any promises…"

"Remember EODs." Boxer nudged, "You want a few decent EODs taking care of this shit, or at least have them take a look at it and decide how it's best to blow it up…"

"I'll get some EODs over there… Not sure when, but I'll arrange it."

"And please hurry the heck up with the EXFIL, this is not a good place to be."

"EXFIL will get there when there are birds available." The Captain said again.

"Hurry." Boxer spit out, before ending the call in anger. "This is not good…"

 **Okay… Hope you're enjoying yourselves.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Okay, sooo… Here we go again… Another chapter.  
(And I guess you've understood this already, this is a little 'back in time', I don't think I've mentioned the year yet, but it should be around 2008 or something.) **

"How long before we get outta here?" Pete asked as Boxer made it back to the group.

"Unknown." Boxer frowned, "Damn useless desk jockey couldn't even provide an ETA."

"What?" Pete spat out, he had not expected that.

Boxer nodded, "We're stuck here until further notice."

"That's not good…" Jack frowned and looked over at the recently rescued hostages, then back at the building he leaned up against. "What are we supposed to do about this?"

"We could either sit tight or skedaddle to a safe distance." Boxer shrugged, "And that's not happening. –Not because of you, but I think one of the diplomates won't make it halfway up that hill without getting a heart attack or something…"

"Yeah, and we don't know if that's far enough either…" Pete sighed and looked at the unhealthy looking diplomat, then up towards the path they had walked to get here in the first place. "Plus, that climb can be a challenge for pretty much anyone…"

"What do you suppose we do?" Jack took a deep breath as he looked up at the two standing Delta's.

"Well, might as well stay here." Boxer drawled, "I mean, 'cept for the potential of going…" he mimicked an explosion with his hand to avoid drawing attention to it, and covered it with a shrug, "'cept for that were safer here… I guess…"

"I don't know…" Pete shot in and trapped his upper lip between his teeth, "I feel like we've got eyes on us…"

"We cleared the area." Boxer shrugged, "Even double checked…"

"Yeah, well…" Pete shrugged, "I've still got that itch on my neck…"

"Your spider senses are tingling?" Jack smirked up towards Pete.

"Don't laugh, I mean it." Pete let out an exasperated breath and looked around at the surrounding buildings and hills. "Something is going to make this go from SNAFU to FUBAR…"

"Well, got any bright ideas of what we should do then?" Boxer raised his brows in question.

"Nah… Not really…"

"Okay, then maybe we should quit whining about it, since we obviously don't have a way to fix it?" Box shrugged.

Jack shrugged too, "I think this already qualifies for FUBAR though…"

"Guess it does…" Boxer nodded, "But we're good. As long as that unsupervised science experiment doesn't cause thing to go caca, we can relax."

"Guys, seriously…" Pete sighed and shifted his weight from one leg to the other, "Don't you feel like there's someone watching us?"

"There's 12 thankful people watching us…" Boxer shrugged, "Could be those eyes you're feeling on ya…"

Pete hitched up his shoulders, his hands still resting on his rifle that hung in a strap around his neck. "Maybe…"

"Try and relax…" Jack gave the younger Delta a nod, "We'll keep eyes and ears open. But most likely, nothing's going to happen."

Pete nodded, but gripped tighter around the stock and barrel of his rifle.

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Duncan had borrowed a small stack of magazines from one of the waiting areas. They proved to be good to have, even though he couldn't give two shits about the latest hobby trends and what not. But it was something to do while he waited for Coop to gain consciousness.

He turned another page and found an article about Nikon DSLR cameras. He started reading it, but didn't catch most of it. He didn't know what ISO stood for, nor did he really know what the aperture did or anything. He wasn't even sure what DSLR meant, if it meant anything.

After reading about half the article, he thought he started to understand a little. DSLR was a kind of camera, a digital version of those fancy cameras some people had.

Reading a bit further, he figured out that DSLRs mostly had replaced SLRs that used film a couple of years ago. Which made sense, the world was evolving. And digital obviously made it easier for everyone. He didn't really have a camera of his own, but Miss Waters had one, and a couple of his 'brothers and sisters' had too, the ones that had moved out to live on their own at least.

He looked up and saw that Coop was still out cold.

He sank a little further down in the plastic chair he had found and kept on reading about these cameras. He didn't really have an interest in cameras or photography, but he knew one of his 'sisters' was very interested, and maybe he could actually understand what she was talking about if he read this well enough. Maybe?

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He still didn't like this. Something felt off. Not that he knew what exactly.

He just had that nagging feeling. He felt like he was being watched. He hated it.

Sure, it could be one of the guys they had rescued, but it didn't feel like that. No… It felt more…  
-He felt like a prey.

He usually wasn't this jittery, not at all. But his gut was telling him that this wasn't over yet.

Pete placed his back against the wall of the building and scanned the 180 degrees of visual field that left him.

Nothing to see.

 **Y'all happy now?**

 **Hope you're enjoying this. I know this chapter was a bit shorter. But… who knows, the next one might be long? (Not making any promises.)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Okay, let's check this one out.**

Hours passed and the sun had just dipped below the mountain to the west. It was still bright, but dusk would soon fall.

He still hadn't been able to shake the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.

Boxer had called the Captain up again about an hour ago. The officer still hadn't been able to answer the question they needed the answer to. So they didn't know when they were going to get picked up, if it was this evening or the next day.

Pete kept looking around for the threat he felt was there.

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Pete stepped over to where they had ordered Jack to lie down, and squatted down beside him, taking in how the Texan's appearance was.

"How are you boss?"

"Been worse…" Jack shrugged, "But I think don't think I'll be putting much weight on that leg for the next month or so…"

"Anything I can do?" Pete tilted his head, "Maybe you want your leg a little higher?"

"Nah, this is good." Jack answered with a smirk, "Kinda like that I can sit up with too much hassle if I feel like it."

"Okay…" Pete smiled back, "Anything else I can do then?"

Jack shook his head, then flashed a grin, "Nah… Nothing I think you have the power over. I mean, you can't fly back to base and get into the Captain's head, can you?"

"Nah, I might be super, but I'm not a magician…"

"Figured." Jack shook his head and looked over at the rest of the group. "Looks like they're holdin' up good. No one has broken down yet at least."

Pete nodded, "Yeah. I wouldn't blame them if they did. It must have been some really stressful days for them."

Jack nodded, and turned his head to look down along the other wall. Towards the door that hid the explosives. "That right there is kinda making me nervous."

"Just that?" Pete shook his head in disbelief, "Ain't you a lucky one?"

"Got that bad feelin' again?"

"It never left…" Pete answered with a curt nod, "It's probably nothing, right? Just my mind playing tricks on me. Proving that I'm still human, right?"

Jack didn't answer at first.

"Right?"

"Could be…" Jack nodded, before offering a shrug. "I mean, it's normal to get worked up with worry from time to time. And this op has definitely given you reasons to worry."

"Yeah…" Pete nodded, "I just can't shake the feeling you know, this place seriously creeps me out."

The words had barely left his lips when the silent evening air was disturbed by the rapid pops of a rifle. One hit him in the back of his vest, a little left of center to his spine.

Without another word, he ushered Jack behind the corner and scrambled after him as he heard Boxer yell at the 'rescued' hostages to get to safety behind the wall.

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"Are you hit?" Jack's voice broke through to him, "Hey man! Talk to me! Did he get you?"

Not really daring to pull a deep breath just yet, Pete hitched up his right shoulder, with a grimace painted across his face. "Think he just got the vest."

"In the back?" Jack's own voice was also laced with pain. But that had a logical explanation, his leg was already hurt, and scrambling behind the wall hadn't done it any favors.

Pete nodded, baring his teeth as he tried moving his left shoulder.

"Turn around, let me check!" Pete did as Jack told him, but flinched away as Jack's finger's found the center of what would turn into a pretty nasty bruise over the next couple of days, "Stopped in the vest, looks like these things work after all…"

Pete nodded gingerly and let out a pained grunt, almost oblivious to Boxer standing a few feet away and answering fire to the best of his abilities. "Feels like I got kicked by a damn horse…"

"Yeah, it feels like that sometimes…" Jack frowned, "How are you? Are you good?"

Pete nodded, and breathed out a cussword. "Yeah, I'm great…"

Once he dared taking a proper breath, he turned his face towards where Boxer was shooting towards the shooter.

"Do you have eyes on that bastard?"

"Yeah." Boxer quipped, "Top of the southern building. Must've climbed up there earlier and just laid waiting."

Pete pushed to his feet and stretched his left arm in all directions in an attempt to ease up the throbbing feeling over his shoulder blade, right next to his spine. Then he brought his gun to his shoulder and joined Boxer at the corner. While Jack asked the hostages if any of them were hurt.

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Duncan knew he shouldn't be impatient. The blond giant would wake up when he was good and ready for it, he knew that. And the nurse had warned him that it could take quite some time.

He had sunken all the way down in the cheap plastic chair. All the way to the incorrect sitting position of a 5th grader sitting mostly on his lower back. He had a magazine in his hands, but had lost focus on that ten minutes ago. His brown eyes were trained on Cooper's heavily bandaged hand where it was perched on top of his chest. His eyes followed as Coop's chest raised and fell in a slow steady rhythm.

He kept on looking at the hand, and didn't even realize it when he drifted off.

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"You good Petey?" Boxer asked as he tried to zero in on the muzzle flashes he saw on top of the southernmost building. "Saw you go down…"

"Yeah, just followed your example." Pete chuckled as he fired his gun once more, "Took one to the vest."

"Guess you were right about us not being done here…" Boxer groaned as he pulled back behind the wall and took out the empty magazine from his rifle. Patting down his own vest he found his last magazine and shoved it into his gun. "I'm not hitting that guy from here…"

"Neither am I…" Pete shook his head as he also pulled back behind the wall.

"What should we do?" Box looked down at the shorter and younger Delta, "Wait until he runs out of ammo?"

"He's probably got more left than what we have…"

"Probably." Box agreed, "This angle just doesn't work… Might have worked for our taller, lefty… But he's not here to help us…"

Pete nodded and looked around, "We need to get higher up…"

"Where do you suppose we go? He'll just pluck us down if we climb on top of this one."

Pete nodded, rubbing at his left eye.

"I've got something we could try…" Jack interrupted as he twisted around to his knees with a grimace.

"Okay? Let's hear it."

"One of us, me, keep his attention on that corner of this building by firing back. The two of you sneak over to the north building, and then you can give Pete a push to get up on the roof. That guy will probably be too focused on me to notice that you're climbing the other roof."

" _If_ he's alone…" Boxer reminded.

"I really don't see any other way…" Pete looked between the two senior Delta's.

"Well, what if I go up instead then?"

"You're heavier…" Pete's lips formed a thin line as he tried to hold back any teasing words his mind provided him with, "It's just easier this way, plus, you're taller too…"

"Exactly." Jack nodded, "Now, what do you say Box? Ready to get rid of that jerk?"

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Sneaking over to the northern building had been easier than what he expected. Jack had been right, it was enough to keep the guys attention focused on where they had come from.

"Okay, ready to give me a boost?" Pete nodded at the wall before he looked over at Boxer again.

"Yeah, but… Be careful, alright?" Box shrugged, "Maybe we should helmet test it first?"

"Helmet test?" Pete smirked, "You mean balance one of our helmets on top of our rifle and see if he shoots at it?"

"Yeah."

"No…" Pete shrugged, "What if that just catches his attention, and he shoots the second time he sees a helmet?"

"What if there's two guys, and only one of them cares about Jack?"

"Are you gonna help me up, or do I have to fake some parkour to get up there?" Pete sighed, glaring at Box.

"Look, I just want us all to make it back to base…"

"I want that too, but I also want to get it done as quickly as possible."

"There could be two, or three… They guessed up to 20-something right?"

"They guessed from 18 to 21…" Pete corrected, "Most of them guessed 20, and that leaves one guy. We've already gotten rid of 19…"

"Not exact science…" Box growled.

Pete shrugged, and started walking away from the wall. He dropped his backpack and slung his rifle onto his back before he turned around. "Last chance. Are you gonna give me a boost, or am I gonna have to get up there on my own?"

Frowning, Box let his shoulders drop in defeat. "Okay… You win. Moron…"

"Hey, a win is still a win…"

"Just don't-"

"-Get shot? No of course not…" Pete winked.

"You young ones are gonna be the death of me and Wyatt, y'know that?"

Pete just chuckled and shook his head as he slowly walked back to where Boxer had now gotten into a position that made it easy for Pete to step in his hands and get catapulted up.

"Nah… Jack will be the death of you two…"

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He made it up. No one shot at him. He belly-crawled across the flat roof and brought his rifle up in front of him.

There was just one guy.

Just like he had expected.

He found him in his crosshairs. He focused on the task. Controlled his breathing, made a small note of the breeze blowing from the west, and debated whether or not he should adjust his aim a little. It wasn't exactly a long range shot, and the wind wasn't all that bad. But he could probably adjust a little after all. He aimed a little bit right of the center of the man's forehead. Right by the bend of his brow. Squeezed the trigger and witnessed the man collapse into a heap.

Standing up he took a good look around the area. No one else on any rooftops. And he couldn't see anyone hiding away in the surrounding hills either.  
This time he actually felt a bit calmer. He managed to relax unlike when they had been done clearing all the buildings.

He walked back to the edge of the roof and looked down at Boxer.

"Mission accomplished." He grinned and lowered his rifle so that Boxer could take it for him. Once the Texan had his hands on the rifle, Pete motioned for him to make room for him. Then he got down from the building, shouldered his backpack and took his gun back from Boxer. "Let's get back to the others."

"How's your spider senses now?" Box asked, his tone almost apologizing for earlier.

"Good." Pete winked, "Feels good."

"Let's hope you're right now too…"

Pete nodded, "Yeah… And let's hope that useless Captain has found some EXFIL for us…"

"Yeah…" Boxer nodded, "We should get outta here…"

Pete nodded as they started making their way back to Jack and the rescored hostages.

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He woke up, his neck all messed up from the weird way he had fallen asleep a couple of hours earlier.

He sat up a little straighter, twisting and turning his neck in a hope to get the crick out of it. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the blond in the bed. He still hadn't moved from the position he was in when Duncan obviously had taken a little nap.

Standing up and draping his shirt over the chair so that anyone walking by would know not to take it, Duncan went to find a restroom. And maybe to get another glass of water too.

 **Okay. Hope you enjoyed.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay… Here we go again. Remember how I 'guessed' that this would be a short 3 chapter story? Huh?  
Fun times.**

 **This is now 34k words and counting. Yeah…  
Looks like my aversion/inability to writing lengthy stuff went out the window after 'Michelle'… **

It was getting dark outside, but Duncan didn't care. He had managed to get the nurses and doctors to let him stay however long he wanted.

And he intended to stay there until Coop woke up. Nothing short of being threatened by at least five very angry, Coop-sized, MPs would get him to go further away than the water station down the hall.

He tore his eyes away from Cooper yet another time and focused back on another one of the magazines that had somehow made their way all the way to this hellhole.

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He didn't know how long it had been when a groan snapped his attention back to Cooper. The blond hadn't opened his eyes yet, but he was closer to consciousness than he had been since he was brought in to the hospital.

Deep furrows were etched between the blonde's eyebrows, letting Duncan know that Cooper definitely feeling the pain his hand had to cause him.

Duncan watched intently as Coop's grimace changed from one form to another, before he finally opened his eyes just a little and stopped sounding his discomfort.

"Hey bud…" he felt the smile creep up on his face, "Nice of you to finally join me again… How are you feeling?"

He watched as Cooper tried to blink his vision clear. The tall Californian then allowed himself a glimpse of the boxing-glove thick bandage covering his right hand and forearm.

Baring his teeth in a grimace he looked over at Duncan, "Feels like my hand is like 95 percent ground meat."

"That sounds horrible…" Duncan frowned as he tried to imagine how that felt.

Cooper offered up a nod, then he looked around the room. "I'm not at base, am I?"

"Nah…" Duncan shook his head, "It turned a little more serious than what the medic thought they could handle there…"

"Where am I then?"

"Hospital, still in Bagram though."

Cooper nodded, taking in the information. "What happened?"

"You…" Duncan started, not really sure of how to put it, "Let's just say we should all be glad you apparently have a good guardian angel sitting on those broad shoulders of yours…"

Closing his eyes again, Coop let a grimace run across his face. "My chest burns…"

Duncan couldn't hold back the nervous chuckle that left his lips, "Well, for good reason. They had to zap you at least twice that I saw."

"Oh…"

Duncan nodded as Coop opened his eyes again. "Like I said, you've got a good, possibly over worked, guardian angel sitting on your shoulder."

"I feel over-worked…" Cooper groaned with a heavy sigh.

"Well, your body sure is…" Duncan shrugged.

"So… Did they fix my hand?" Coop's eyes fell shut, and the furrows between his brows came out to play again.

Duncan shook his head, "No… More like just saved it…"

"Hm?" his eyes shot open again and found Duncan straight away.

"That infection you had, it got worse." Duncan sighed and rubbed his neck, "They managed to fix that and close it up. But they didn't dare to do anything about the fractures you had."

"So that's why I feel like I've got five different flus all at once…" Coop frowned. Then he looked at his hand rested on top of his chest again, "So my hand was fractured…"

"Yeah. Not just a little either…" Duncan shook his head, then his tone went a little cold and challenging, "You had three new fractures, at least one of them needs surgery."

"Wait…" Cooper held up his left hand to pause Dunc in what he felt was going to turn into pissed off rambling if he didn't stop him. He didn't know why Duncan was getting into that annoyed spectrum of his voice though, but he was sure he would find out soon enough. "Why'd you say it like that?"

"Say it like what?" Duncan rolled his eyes, his voice getting colder and more accusing with each syllable. "Three _NEW_ fractures?"

"Yeah…" Coop nodded, looking as innocent as he could manage. But he was starting to get a feeling he knew why Dunc was starting to get mad at him. But with his groggy brain he wasn't completely sure either.

"Well, they found four fractures, you idiot!"

"They, -what?"

"Yeah, four fractures. One of which was older, because it was almost healed!"

 _Okay, that made sense…_

"I… I didn't know…" Honestly, he didn't _know_ it had been _broken_. He had just thought his arm had been a little banged up. A bruise, some tenderness and a bit discomfort the first two-three weeks. -Or maybe a bit longer than that…

"That's not an excuse I'm willing to believe." Duncan sat forward and stared at him with dark eyes, "What happened? When did it happen? And why the heck didn't you tell us?"

"Trust me, I didn't think it was that bad…"

 _Honestly, he hadn't thought it was bad at all._

"You…? No. Not good enough…" Duncan shook his head, "The doctors find a fracture they guess is about between 3 and 6 weeks old given the state of how it's healed and how you've probably been using that arm without restrictions. Now tell me."

Coop looked around for an escape route, but given how horrible he was feeling he probably wouldn't make it six feet from the bed before he would black out.

"Remember a few weeks back? We had that challenge between us and a few other of the teams?"

Recognition dawned on Duncan's face, "You mean when we all the other one's asses in that unscheduled hand to hand competition? Sparring and general fun?"

"Yeah…" Coop nodded with a smirk.

"Did you hurt your arm then?" Duncan's eyes narrowed, "I can't remember you got hurt at all…"

"Didn't tell…" Coop shrugged weakly, "Honestly thought I just bruised it. Didn't feel all that bad…"

Duncan rolled his eyes, "How? Exactly."

"Remember I was paired up against Joshua?"

"The Bear?" Duncan tilted his head, "The guy who shouldn't be allowed to cut the sleeves off his t-shirts because there's forest peeking out in all directions? FROM THE TOP OF HIS SHOULDERS!"

"Yeah, the Bear…" Cooper nodded, and let out a light chuckle. "I shoved him away, and when he retaliated he planned on planting a boot in my chest. I wasn't interested in having all the air knocked out of me, so I blocked it."

"And what?"

"Well, I guess his heel hit just right on my right forearm. It hurt a little, but not enough to make me think something had actually happened…" Coop shrugged and rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand. "Thought it was just a bruise and a sore muscle…"

"If you weren't already in a hospital bed I'd really, really like to punch some sense into that thick skull of yours…" Duncan sighed, "Why didn't you… Why didn't you tell us?"

"I just told you…" Coop sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with his good hand, "Thought it was just a sprain or a bruise or something. Nothing to care about."

Shaking his head in disbelief Duncan sat back again, "Okay, but that's the last time…"

"Huh?"

"Sweep something like that under the rug ever again, and I won't let you care for yourself. Okay?"

"What? I'm not gonna tell you every time I get a bruise…" Cooper frowned, but sank a little deeper into the mattress when Duncan's scowl intensified.

"You are going to tell me every. time. you. get. banged. up." Duncan held Coop's eyes for a few seconds to make his point, "You don't have to tell me in detail, but just let me know something like; 'hey, I banged up my arm' or something… Then I'll at least be able to take a look at it."

"You know you'll probably end that rule just a couple of weeks after I get back, you know that?"

"Nah-uh…" Dunc shook his head, "You obviously don't know how to look out for yourself you lunatic…"

"Of course I do…"

"What part about walking around with a broken arm for weeks, before having it discovered when you royally mess up that same arm, gives any credit to your words?" Duncan waited a few seconds, giving Coop a fair chance to answer, "Nothing. Nothing about that makes me think you don't need adult supervision."

"What? You consider yourself the adult one in that picture?" Cooper raised his eyebrows.

"Well, you're not the grown up… That's for sure!" Duncan crossed his hands over his chest, "Sometimes you're like a stream of bad decisions."

Letting out a weak chuckle, Cooper shook his head. "Hey… I do make good choices too…"

"You've got your moments…" Duncan rolled his eyes, "That's all I'm willing to give you…"

Running his good hand over his face, Cooper put on a smile, "I'll take it…"

"But seriously though…" Duncan's eyes glued to the big bandage covering Coop's forearm and hand, "Next time, just tell me… I don't know, we wouldn't have set you to winch it up if we had known your arm wasn't a 100 percent… It could all have been avoided…"

"I didn't get hurt because my arm was aching a little bit…"

"You sure?"

"Yeah…" Coop nodded, his left arm draped across his eyes to block out the light for a little bit, or in a hope that he could block out Duncan that way. If only for a few seconds. Escape from all these questions. "My arm wasn't that much of a problem."

"You had a fracture in it. Before you got hurt using the winch!"

"It wasn't weaker…" Coop removed his left arm with a sigh, "Look… I didn't slip or anything. I've been working out daily since I got what I thought was just a nasty bruise. My arm wasn't weaker in any way… The winch just had a malfunction…"

"It's weird, because now that I think back… I can actually remember seeing you favoring that arm. Not much, just like a little. Just like not reaching out for things as much with your right… Stuff like that."

"Well, maybe cause it's my non-dominant arm?" Cooper rolled his eyes, "I use it, but if something's on the table in front of me, I guess I'm more likely to reach out with my left…"

Shaking his head, Duncan leaned forward again, "Okay, maybe you've got a point…"

"Like I said… Thought it was just a bruise, can't say it's been setting my back any. Didn't even struggle more than usual with the weights."

"Yeah, that's just not human…" Dunc chuckled, "Those weight sets you're doing, they're not made for mortals."

Coop grinned, before his eyes found the thick bandage again and his face went expressionless for a second. "Hey…"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe if you really work out while I'm sidelined…" the smile started to creep back on to Coop's lips, "Maybe you could beat my ass when it comes to weights by the time I'm ready to get back…"

Duncan's reaction wasn't the one Coop had counted on. Instead, his friend's face went blank and his chin dropped a little.

"Hey, bro…" Cooper tilted his head a little, trying to make eye contact, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…"

"You sure?" Coop tilted his head the other way, "Cause you look like something's wrong…"

Duncan shook his head, then he answered. "You just scared me… A lot."

"Well… Sorry…" Coop sighed, "Didn't mean to… -If it helps."

Duncan shook his head, but a smile captured his lips. "Earlier today, I was almost sure you were going home under a flag. Hearing you pretty much say that you're probably coming back, that's… It caught me off guard… That's all…"

"Hey, there's no question 'bout it. I'm comin' back…"

"You know Box and Jack would probably tease you for that piss-poor attempt of a Texan accent? Right?"

"Yeah…" Coop grinned, "It's one of the many reasons you guys love me, ain't it?"

Duncan shook his head and laughed, "I don't know about that…"

"Oh well…" Coop shrugged before his expression and tone went serious, "But I'm coming back. Trust me."

"Don't you think you want to know if that busted up paw of yours will get good again before you say something like that? The doctors and nurses weren't sure whether you'd get it back to the way it should be…"

"Pretty sure I can find a way to work around it if it won't get back in perfect condition…" Cooper bobbed his head from side to side, "As long as it stops hurting like a motherf-…"

"Look, I like your spirt, you know that…" Duncan nodded, "But, I don't know how realistic it would be…"

"Screw that." Coop waved his good hand dismissively, "I'm getting back. Might take a little time, I'll admit that. But I'm getting back to this unit."

Duncan's voice locked in his throat, making him unable to reply. _  
I hope you do._

 **Okay… Hope you enjoyed.  
What a mess this was, right…? **


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello again… Hope you're doing fine.**

"Hey, Dunc…?" Cooper said after they both had been silent for a long time.

"Yeah…"

"You think they've added any sort of painkiller at all to that bag hanging up there?" the blond nodded towards the IV bag of antibiotics.

"Yeah. They did…"

"Oh…" Coop nodded and closed his eyes to think.

Dunc looked at plastic bag, and then at Cooper's face. He didn't like the way all the lines in the blonde's young face had deepened and made him look a lot older than he was.

"It's not enough? Is it?" Dunc didn't really need to ask, one look at Coop's face and he actually knew.

The blond shook his head, opened his eyes and looked up at the bag with a frown. "So far I think all it does is give me a horrible taste in my mouth… My hand still feels like it's being driven over by a tractor…"

"Well, that's a mental pain-picture I didn't expect…" Duncan shuddered, "You want me to go look for someone who might be able to give you some more?"

"That'd be great…" Cooper nodded.

"Alright, I'll be right back…"

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"So… Still haven't heard anything from the base?"

"Nothing good…" Boxer shrugged, "I keep asking why we don't get a bird ASAP, he keeps telling me that there's a crisis but that it's on a need to know basis."

"That's ridiculous…" Jack frowned in the waning light, "We're like the guys who are supposed to know when there's just a handful of people who should know…"

"Yeah, I tried verbally beating that into the Captain's brain…" Box rolled his eyes, "Guess he left his brain back stateside."

"He must have…" Pete shot in, kneeling down next to the two others. "How are you doing boss?"

"Good…" Jack nodded, "Little anxious about a few things that I'd like to be miles away from… But other than that I'm all good."

"The leg's not bothering you too much?"

"Nah…" Jack shook his head, "It's fine as long as I keep it still…"

"Well, at least we've got one thing going for us…" Boxer sighed, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm almost ready to go off script…"

"And what do you suppose we do?"

"Well…" Box shrugged his shoulders, "I mean, we might not have the numbers for any other brass written down… But we all had to learn phone numbers by heart back in the day…"

"I kinda didn't, Grunt-pa…"

"Don't Grunt-pa me!" Boxer growled and swatted Pete, "I ain't old enough for that yet."

"Eh… Anything over 38 is old enough for that nickname in this business…" Pete joked back, "And you've hit the big 4-0 already Box…"

"Shut your pie hole…" Boxer groaned, "Anyway… Wyatt and me had to learn numbers by heart back in the day. And I think I can conjure up another number if I try… I just want to know that you're on the same page before I try…"

The poor light was just enough for Pete and Jack to read each other's facial expressions.

"Try the Captain one more time…" Jack said after a long time, If that POG can't find a way to get us outta here soon, we dial up either one of his superiors or one of the choppers direct."

"Okay, just excuse me for a minute… I've got to make a call to a brick wall…" Boxer sighed as he readied himself to get to his feet.

"We can't stay here." Jack drawled, and lowered his voice so just Pete and Boxer had the chance of hearing him, "I don't think either one of us is comfy with what we know is hidden here. And I feel more and more stupid every time I've got to tell these people who we've kinda rescued that we don't know when we'll be picked up…"

Pete nodded, "I totally agree. But we might get in big trouble for this…"

"Well, if you haven't noticed it yet hotshot, we already are…" Boxer remarked as he toed his boot into Pete's boot.

"He's got a point…" Jack nodded, still looking at Pete. "It's not safe to be here with all of whatever you guys found in there…"

"Well, let's just hope we won't get court martialed." Pete shook his head and looked over at the group of almost rescued hostages, "But it's the right thing to do, and it's worth it…"

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"Sorry kid, but our choppers are still busy."

"We need one. NOW." Boxer put his free hand to his side, "We need to get out of here!"

"Kid, you're not listening to me. There's no choppers available."

"Listen here, call me kid one more time and I'll find a way to crawl through this phone and slap you up the face!" Boxer growled, almost certain that he could be older than the guy he was talking to.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing…"

"Oh shut it! Go sit on a pine cone or something!" Boxer barked, tired of not getting through to the Captain. "We need a chopper. Preferably 5 hours ago."

"I'll call you back up when there's one available."

"That might be too late!" Box tested, hoping that it would get him anywhere.

"You've just got to wait…" the Captain said, "I'll call you up."

The phone disconnected and Boxer fought the urge to send the sat phone flying.

He had to take a few minutes to calm himself down enough to dial the next number from memory.

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"You've reached Colonel Barnes." A rough voice greeted him, "Who am I speaking with?"

"Claude Boxer."

"Boxer?" there was recognition in his voice, "How've you been doing son?"

"Good. Mostly." Boxer shrugged, "Look, I've got to ask a favor of you…"

"Just tell me what it is?" the Colonel started, "I'll try and make it happen for you. You guys really saved my ass back in Fallujah."

Boxer nodded, a smirk creeping up on his face at the memory. "We're on a mission, ready to be extracted."

"Okay? So what's the problem?"

"The jackass Captain we were to report to claims that there's no available birds in pretty much all of Afghanistan." Box rolled his eyes, "That's what he makes it sound like anyway."

"Okay, well. There is a situation going on in Shaikh Ali, but he should be able to pull at least one chopper on short notice." Colonel Barnes answered with dismay. "Let me know your coordinates and I'll get you outta there straight away."

"Okay, we need room for 15. 12 hostages and 3 operators." Box informed, "A little extra legroom would be nice too, Wyatt broke his leg. He doesn't need a medic, but…"

"We could try to make sure he can have his leg up?" the Colonel offered when Boxer didn't find his words, "Make it a little more comfortable for the man…"

"Yeah…" Box nodded, "I don't know if you remember how he is… But…"

"Oh, I remember." The Colonel assured, "And I remember you two sounding like a bitchin' ol' married couple when things went sideways."

"Hey, what can I say?" Box chuckled, "Somebody's gotta look after that freak."

"If I recall, you were the one who had been shot…"

"Yeah, but just a graze wound… And I had to make sure that lunatic didn't get it worse than me…" Boxer chuckled.

"So, room for 15 or more… Got it…" the Colonel nodded, "Location?"

Boxer nodded and gave the coordinates he had memorized for the location, then once he was done, he cleared his voice. "Look, our orders were to contact the Captain, and only the Captain… So it would be great if you could keep this kinda unofficial… We're probably gonna get our heads chewed off already, but… We can't stay here. There's explosives here. A lot of them and we really don't know if they're stable or not…"

"Okay?"

"Our orders were to blow it up on site. There's way more than we had intel about, and we can't really figure out a safe distance."

"The only one who needs his head chewed off is that no-good Captain who shouldn't have been in charge of this in the first place." The Colonel sighed, "I guess I can have a bird out there with you in 40 minutes. Most of the choppers are near Shaikh Ali, and it probably needs to refuel before they can come for you."

"Sounds good, sir!"

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"ETA 40 minutes…" he grinned as he made it back to the two others.

"Did you win over him, or did you call someone else?"

"Called Colonel Barnes." Boxer grinned, "Think it took me 10 words, and he was working on fixing it for us."

"Nice." Jack grinned, clapping his hands together. "Gonna be nice to get outta here!"

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"How is it now? Is it better?"

"Yeah. A little." Cooper nodded, "Still not anywhere near comfortable, but better."

Duncan's eyes went to Coop's bandaged hand.

"Hey…" Cooper said as he used his foot to bump against Duncan's arm, "It's not _that_ bad…"

"I'd be a lot more freaked out than you are right now, if the roles were reversed…" Duncan admitted and scratched his head, looking away from the thick bandage.

"There's no use in freaking out now, is there?" Cooper scrounged up his nose, "I mean, I could… But my hand would still hurt just as much and need just as much time and rehab to get back in fighting condition."

Dunc nodded. Secretly he had strong doubts about Coop's chances of actually getting back in action.

"Hey, cheer up a little…" Coop sighed, "You look like you're about ready to go to my funeral. That's not the case."

"I know it's not…" Duncan chuckled, "Just… I don't like that you're still in pain…"

"It's not that bad anymore…" Coop tilted his head a bit, "Just bad enough to make me not want to move it…"

"The fact that that's coming from the guy who walked around with a broken arm for weeks without getting it checked out… That's not reassuring." Duncan sighed.

"I told you…" Coop shrugged, "I really didn't think I'd done anything to my arm back then…"

"The fact that it kept on hurting for weeks on end didn't raise a suspicion for you?"

"Didn't really hurt enough to call it that…"

"You're digging yourself deeper and deeper in this not-reassuring hole…"

"Okay, maybe I am…" Coop sighed with defeat, "But, trust me… I'm coming back…"

Duncan wanted to ask how he could be so sure of it. Because right now he saw nothing, except the sheer stubbornness of his buddy, that would suggest that was even an option. "You sure are a glass half-full kind of guy, right?"

Cooper shrugged a little, "It's not fun focusing on all the things that could end up not working out all the time… Way too easy to lose motivation then…"

Duncan just shrugged.

"Deep down I know…" he admitted, "The doctors, nurses… You… None of you have said anything yet, but just by how my hand is feeling, I know I could end up with a stiff hand, that might not ever work as it should ever again… But… This… I can't let myself think like that all too often if I want to get back. If I focus on the bad, then I know I won't be able to get past this…"

"So… You know…"

"Yeah…" Coop nodded, paling a little at the thought. "I know how bad it looked before I got here… I know that the fractures could cause a lot of trouble. I know whatever they did to save my hand in the first place, I know that could probably end up causing me problems. –You mentioned they cut away a bit of flesh, right? The wound was massive to begin with… You don't need to be a grade A student to figure out that you probably are gonna end up with some permanent damage."

Duncan flinched at the words.

"So, let's just agree. Right here and now, that the two of us are finished with all the thoughts that says that I'm not gonna make it back. Because I'm going to do all that I can to come back, and you know it…"

"Yeah…" Duncan shook his head, before a chuckle left him, "Okay. We're done with the 'Coop's not coming back at all' thoughts. Okay… But I still get to worry about you? Right?"

"You worry too much…" Coop winked.

"Well, you don't worry enough." Dunc rolled his eyes, "But I don't doubt that you're gonna do everything in your power to come back and be the direct cause of my high blood pressure for another decade or two…"

Cooper laughed, then it morphed into a yawn.

"Damn Coop, haven't you slept enough today?" Duncan chuckled, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by exhaustion himself and caught off guard by a yawn himself.

"Yeah… No…" the blond shook his head, "Kinda tired… Kinda wanna sleep for a week or two…"

Nodding Duncan looked up at the clock on the wall. "Nine o'clock, you're not feeling well, that's for sure…"

"Told you…" Coop answered as he closed his eyes for a second, "Feels like I've got at least 5 different strains of flu all at once."

"Yeah, you did say something like that…" Dunc nodded, "I'm gonna go talk to the staff here, figure out if I can stay here and sleep in a chair somewhere. Don't bother staying awake for me…"

"Already ahead of you…" Cooper smirked as he closed his eyes once again. "Night."

"Night…"

 **Okay… Another literal mess. Hope you enjoyed.  
Nada action in this one, 'sowwy'…  
Have a good one!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay, here we go again.**

 **Managed to finally get to the store and buy a new charger for this laptop-tablet combo. And it looks like it's charging eagerly! All is well with the world again (Well almost. If I have to complain, I still want a new job. And maybe just to fast-forward until August and starting school again… Never thought I'd say that… but…)  
…The computer was charging out even when it was plugged in. Which limited how much I could use it. And believe me, on boring night shifts where nothing is happening (And in-between nights where I don't bother to flip my sleep schedule around) that's pretty damn irritating.**

 **But, the world has balance once again…**

 **Okay, enough about my charger situation, on with the fic…**

35 minutes. 35 minutes after his call to the Colonel, they didn't just have a chopper out there with them, they were INSIDE it and on their way back to camp.

Boxer was relieved. Being there, on ground, with a monster of a bomb they didn't really understand. It had been a little more scary than what he preferred.

It was good to know that they were on their way back to base. And it would be good to finally see how Coop was doing. He couldn't remember ever seeing the Californian fall to pieces like that because of an injury ever before. So it would be good to see him.

"Hey, how do you think Coop's doin'?" he asked and slapped Jack on the upper arm.

"Dunno…" Jack grinned, "Prob'ly sneaking into the med station just to flirt with the nurses, now that he's got an excuse to go in there…"

"Yeah, probably…" Pete agreed where he sat, "Worst part is, he doesn't need an 'in' like that to woo those poor nurses."

"A good lookin' guy like him, no…" Box let out a hearty laugh, "He's not like us regular guys who need to plan flirting more than we need to plan missions. You just know he could probably just stumble into the place and wink at a girl and she'd be done for. Right?"

Laughing, Jack nodded. "Yeah. But he's not got girls flinging themselves at him either…"

"Probably just because he's a human mountain." Pete laughed, "I mean, imagine you're a normal girl, you'd get a crick in your neck if you tried to look at his face for too long."

"You'd know all about that, shorty…" Jack flashed a grin in Pete's direction, "Right?"

"Shut up…" Pete chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I'm not _that_ short!"

"You're not tall either…" Boxer grinned.

The three of them fell silent for a little while. Pete trying his best to act annoyed albeit not completely selling it, and Box and Jack chuckling happily.

"I wonder how he's doing though…" Pete said once he figured they could move on from his height, "By the looks of it, it was pretty bad…"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, it really wasn't like him…"

"Yeah…" Boxer nodded, "We've all seen each other getting beat up bad over the years. But…"

"Could've hit his hand right at one of those nerve-bundle places…" Jack shrugged, "Just imagine being hit at that spot where your mom will press her thumb down on if you've been bad…"

Boxer shuddered, "Imagine being hit square at the one by your hip…"

"Exactly, could be just that…" Jack shrugged, "I hope it's just something like that…"

"What? What kinda nerve-bundles?"

"Box, will you do the honors?" Jack swung his head around to lock eyes with Boxer, "I'd do it myself, but I'm sitting kinda good right now…"

"Oh, of course…" Boxer grinned, "Hip or shoulder? Or neck… Spine? Ribs…?"

"Whichever you please…" Jack grinned.

"This isn't gonna hurt? Is it?" Pete frowned as Boxer stood up, "Right?"

"Nah… It's not gonna hurt…" Boxer shrugged.

"-It's only gonna be a little uncomfortable…" Jack filled in, "That's all. But I guess getting something slammed into those points would be 'no Bueno'…"

Boxer pressed the tip of his thumb into Pete's hip, right where he knew it would sting the absolute most.

"GAH!" Pete cried out and jumped away from Box, rubbing a hand over the spot near his hip. "Damn!"

"Exactly…" Jack nodded.

"Shit, it just keeps on stinging…" Pete frowned and offered a glance down at where his hand was rubbing over area.

"Yeah, and that was just slight pressure…" Box shrugged, "That was, 'you've used the tablecloth for a parachute' kind of pressure, not bad at all…"

"About a 4 on a 1-10 scale of what our moms used… A 10 will leave you with a pointy bruise." Jack shrugged, "Now imagine being hit with something hard at the same point, not necessarily a baseball bat, but something that can still pack a punch…"

"That's one thing I just won't imagine…" Pete frowned, "Who the heck knows how to find those points?"

"Lots of farm-ladies…" Jack chuckled, "His ma's favorite form of punishment back in the days…"

"Oh, she'll still do it…" Box frowned, "And she definitely won't miss."

"Yeah, that's another thing Pete…" Jack pointed at the youngest Delta present, "If you don't hit those bundles, it won't hurt at all… But it looks like Box found it on ya…"

"Remind me never to piss of Ma' Boxer…" Pete frowned as he removed his hand from his hip. "Well, I guess if there's a spot like that on your hands, and Coop got hit right on it… -I'd be making a lot of noise too…"

"Yeah, let's hope that's the case…" Jack nodded and looked down at his own hand, trying to figure out if there could be a point like that there.

"Yeah…" Boxer nodded in agreement, "Okay, so he most likely broke something, but he's probably already in a cast, and Dunc probably has to remind that big redwood that he shouldn't do too much stuff with his hand already…"

"Yeah, that'd be classic." Pete nodded. "Hey, remember that one time Charlie broke his arm or wrist?"

"The time he didn't ship back home?"

Pete nodded, "It was his left, so like he said, 'didn't really matter that much'… But it only took about a 10 days before he was kicking our collective asses in the training sessions again, hard brace and all…"

Boxer nodded, "Yeah, how was it he broke it in the first place? Any of you remember that?"

"He got kicked off a horse. Landed on his arm." Jack answered as he thought back, "Think it was our first trip after the towers."

"Yeah, right… The horse incident…" Box tried to hold back a smirk, "And yeah, that might be right…"

"He was lucky though, it was just a small fracture." Pete added, "Hairline basically…"

"Yeah, well… I've got a feelin' his kid brother ain't that lucky…"

"Probably not…" Pete agreed, "But, he's probably busy bouncing back already. Probably driving Dunc insane while he's at it…"

"Gonna be good to see them both when we get back…" Jack smirked.

"-After you've had someone take a look at your leg…" Boxer pointed a warning finger. "Cause that's the first thing that should happen…"

"Yes 'mom'…" Jack answered with a sigh, "But we're finding out two kids right after that, okay?"

"Deal." Boxer grinned, "I wanna see 'em too, y'know…"

Jack nodded.

 **Okay, today's chapter wasn't all that long. Just a simple 1k-ish chappie. Hope you enjoyed though!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Okay, so… Hope you're still enjoying this.**

Jack was grateful that he could wrap his arms around Boxer's and a random guy's shoulders. That way he didn't need to put weight on his leg.

They helped him get from the chopper to the medical building at base. He might have managed the trip on his own, but the help was welcomed. Stepping down on his left foot was directly painful.

They helped him hobble into the exam room, where Allie one of the nurses met him.

"So, what have you guys done this time?" she shook her head as Jack sat down on top of the exam bed, and lifted his leg up to rest it.

"Ah…" Jack shrugged, "Got hit by a bullet. Think it broke my leg."

"Okay…" her eyebrows darted upward as she looked at his leg, "Can you move it at all?"

"Yeah, but it's a pain in the ass…" Jack shrugged, looking at the dressing he had applied earlier. It had bled through, but at least the wound hadn't soaked the rest of his pant leg.

"I'll go find a doctor. A few of them are busy with a couple of casualties that came in earlier. But I think Dr. Travis is free. Think I saw him head for the mess hall about 40 minutes ago."

"Thanks…" Jack smiled, "Hey, by the way… Do you happen to know how Coop is doing?"

"Coop?"

"Yeah, big tall guy…" Jack shrugged, "Blond, from our little gang."

"The cute one?"

Jack laughed, "If you feel it's appropriate to call someone that tall and big cute, then I guess yeah. Not the word I would have used to describe him though…"

Allie blushed and let out a nervous chuckle, "No, sorry… Haven't seen him. Should I have?"

"Yeah, he busted up his hand. Had to abort the mission." Jack frowned, "What about Duncan? The one that might as well have been a conjoined twin with Coop?"

"The black guy with that perfect smile?" Allie tilted her head, "Sings pretty well? Has a knack for practical pranks?"

Jack nodded.

"No, haven't seen him around either…"

"You haven't seen either of them?" Boxer frowned, looking between Allie and Jack. Concern growing on his face. "Have you had a couple of days off? Could you just have missed them?"

"No… I had a day off the day before you guys went on mission…" she shook her head.

"Shit…" Jack bared his teeth in worry, and looked over at Boxer, "Where could they be?"

"Let's hope they're not stuck out in the desert…" Box's right hand went to rub his neck. "Or that something bad has happened to them…"

"Anyplace else they could be?"

"Nah…" Box shook his head, "Can't think of any… It wouldn't be like them to get lost. And they sure would have reached the checkpoint and gotten transport from there already."

Jack nodded. He was worrying more and more by the second.

"How bad was he?" Allie asked as her hand went up to tuck away a strand of vibrant red hair.

Boxer shrugged, "Thing is, we really don't know for sure. He had a gash, and he must definitely have broken his hand too. Can't see any other reason he would have made so much fuzz about it."

"Okay…" she nodded, her eyebrows creasing. "I heard some chatter about some medevac pilots bringing a couple of soldiers to the _hospital_. In the city."

"Could it be our guys?" Jack's eyes darted quickly from Boxer to Allie, "Do you know anything else? What kind of condition they were in? Why they were brought there instead of here?"

"Could be…" Boxer crossed his arms over his chest, "Two guys, yeah?"

"I think it was two…" Allie shrugged apologetically, then her face fell into a worried frown, "I don't know much, but I heard Ryan saying that the personnel in that chopper said one guy was in a really bad condition. He didn't mention the state of the others, I don't know if it was a couple like two, or a couple like a few…"

Jack looked at Box, an unspoken question written all over his face.

"I'll go check our little slice of freedom, if I don't find 'our kids' there, I'll make a few calls and check the hospital." Boxer nodded before he turned and headed out to check their sleeping quarters.

"Your kids?" Allie chuckled despite herself.

"Yeah, they're just oversized kids really…" Jack chuckled, "Don't tell them we call them that behind their backs…"

Allie shook her head, then her smile faded. "I hope they're alright…"

"Yeah, me too…"

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

There was nothing Boxer thought he would have loved more than finding their two missing Delta's sprawled over their respective bunks.

But no such luck.

The only person inside their tent was Pete, who was currently shedding his gear.

"Seen Dunc and Coop?"

"No." Pete answered as he turned halfway around to face Box, "Haven't you found them yet?"

"No…" Box shook his head, "Nurse said she hadn't seen 'em either…"

"What?" Pete turned the rest of the way around, running a hand over his stubble, "I sure would have thought that Coop would have spent at least a couple of days in care of the nurses. Even if his hand wouldn't require it, it's painfully obvious he's got a thing for the short redhead…"

Boxer nodded. "Yeah… And it was her I spoke with."

"He's not been here at all then…" Pete swallowed, his eyes widening.

"Yeah, I had a suspicion about that." Boxer nodded, "Figured I'd check here just to be sure first though."

"Do you think they're lost out there?"

"Allie, the nurse, said she had heard some rumors about some American soldiers being brought to the hospital in the city…" Boxer shrugged, "Figured I'd go and scare someone to let me use their phone and tell me the number for the hospital."

Pete nodded, "Want backup?"

"Don't need it, but sure."

Pete picked up his t-shirt again and pulled it back over his head. "Okay, let's go!"

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Finding a phone hadn't been hard. Getting the number hadn't been hard that either.

Actually dialing the number, that had been a little harder. Mostly because his hands had started trembling worse than he could ever remember them doing ever before.

The nurse had mentioned one of the guys being brought to the hospital being in a bad condition. He really wished it wouldn't be their guys. But on the other hand, he didn't want them to be lost out in the desert either.

He took a calming breath before pushing the buttons. Then he brought the phone to his ear, his stomach flipping and turning.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"They're there?!" Boxer's voice was indescribable to him. Pete couldn't tell if the older man was relieved or not.

"And they're alive?" okay, that was nervous. He had to give it to Box, the man cut straight to the chase.

Pete strained his ears in an attempt to hear the reply, to no use.

"Great. How are they doing?"

Pete tried to pick up whatever was being said on the other end once again. Still didn't work.

"Okay, so Coop will make it?"

That probably meant that Duncan was okay, if Boxer didn't have to ask about him and didn't show any sadness, that had to mean Dunc was alright at least.

"It's looking better than you would have believed when he was brought in…" Boxer nodded, pressing his lips together in a thin line, "That's good news, right?"

Pete felt a wave of reassurance wash over him as Boxer relaxed in front of him.

"Great."

"Can we go over there? Meet them?" Pete prompted.

"Hey, we want to see out guys, when can we come over?" Boxer asked.

Pete waited for the answer to be relayed to him.

"The other guy has decided to camp out on a couple of chairs already? Okay…" Boxer repeated with a smirk, "You'll go check, alright great?"

"What?" Pete asked.

"She said she would check if they were awake, if not she would kindly ask us to wait until tomorrow…" Boxer explained.

Pete nodded, "That's fair…"

Boxer agreed.

They both waited in silence for a few minutes before the woman got back on line with Box.

"Out like a light. Both of them." Boxer nodded, "Okay, we're coming over first thing tomorrow."

Pete nodded.

"Thanks ma'am…" Boxer smiled politely, "You've really helped us. We were very worried."

Boxer was silent while the other person said something.

"Once again ma'am… Thank you. Very, very much."

Once he hung up, he turned to Pete. "You got that?"

Pete nodded.

"Better go break the news to Wyatt…"

Pete nodded again.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

They had obviously spent more time than Boxer had thought. Because when he made it back to where he had left Jack, the other Texan was in the last stages of being fitted with a cast.

"Did you find them?"

"Are they done with you alredy?"

"Yeah…" Jack nodded, "Got the bullet fragment out too and all! Stitched up and straightened out."

"And had a few shots…" Allie added as she rolled her eyes, causing the two other deltas to laugh out loud.

"You gave him those shots?"

Allie nodded.

"Damn… I would have loved to see that happening…" Pete laughed, and Boxer nodded.

"Shut up…" Jack sighed, "Well, did you find Coop and Dunc?"

"Yeah…" Boxer nodded, "They're at the hospital. Looks like Coop will pull through. He was bad off when he was brought in, he's gotta stay there for some time. We can go see them tomorrow."

"How's Dunc?"

"Physically unharmed." Boxer smiled, "But he's not leaving Coop. Made a chair-bunk…"

"That boy is gonna have a sore back and neck tomorrow…" Jack noted.

"Yeah, probably…" Boxer nodded, then he pointed to Jack's leg, "So… Break?"

Jack nodded.

"Fib… Should heal well with a little rest." Jack said before looking at the doctor for confirmation, "Right."

"Yeah." the doctor nodded, "So for now you've gotta hobble around on crutches… And no cheating."

"Of course…" Jack nodded.

 **Okay, that's today's chapter.  
Did I pace it right? Did it feel slow or was it an interesting read?**

 **Hope your day is going great!**

 **Also, got the 2** **nd** **round of a job interview tomorrow. Wish me luck!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Okay. So… Here we go again. Let's check it out!**

None of them really slept well that night. They were all too anxious to see Duncan and Coop the next morning to get any quality rest, even though their bodies demanded it.

Jack kept on looking around the dark tent. Every now and then his eyes lingered on where he knew his left leg was propped up on a stuffed duffle bag. It was too dark to see anything, but his eyes still searched for something to steal his focus away.

Off to his right he could Pete twisting and turning. For a guy who normally slept like a log, it was a sure tell that he wasn't sleeping either.

And he could hear it by the way Boxer was breathing that the other Texan wasn't sleeping either. Neither of them slept.

He wiggled his toes and let out a long slow breath.

"Y'awake?" Boxer's deep and somewhat raspy voice filed the darkness.

There was a beat of silence, then Pete and Jack answered in unison.

"Yeah…"

"Man, I can't sleep…" Boxer sighed, and Jack could hear him changing position.

"Yeah…" Pete's voice entered the darkness, "Feels wrong to be here when I know where Coop and Dunc are…"

"Right…" Jack nodded, "I need to see them. Make sure they're really alright."

"That's right…" Pete agreed.

"What time is it?" Box asked.

There was a few seconds before Pete answered, "0430… We've been trying to sleep for a little over an hour…"

Jack nodded, that sounded about right according to his inner clock.

"Well, counting sheep sure don't cure this…" Boxer drawled, "I would have thought I'd fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. But no…"

"Yeah, I was about ready to pass out when we reached base earlier…" Pete sighed audibly, "But right now it feels like I'm never gonna sleep again…"

"I know the feeling…" Jack drawled as he closed his eyes for a minute. "I'm stressed out for our two guys…"

"Me too…" Boxer drawled, "They should be here. Both safe, both unharmed…"

"That would have been a lot better…" Pete added.

"Yep…" Jack agreed. Then he sighed, "But we should probably try to get some sleep though…"

"Yeah…" the two other voices agreed.

"We might end up scaring the shit out of Dunc and Coop if we walk in looking like the sleep deprived zombies we'll be looking like if we don't catch a couple of hours…"

"True…" Pete shot in before clearing his voice, "So… How are we going to handle this?"

"How about noise discipline, and good luck?" Box suggested.

"Sure…" Jack nodded, "Good luck…"

"Good luck…" Pete and Boxer sounded in the dark.

"Okay, no talk until 06:00… Starting now."

The tent filled with silence again, and each of the Deltas were left to their own thoughts.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Somehow they had all managed to fall asleep sometime during the night. Jack jerked awake as he head someone pass outside their tent about ten minutes before they would be woken up by the reveille.

He let out a soft groan as he propped up on his elbows, glaring down at his cast-clad leg.

He looked over at the two others, they were still asleep.

Sitting up he reached out for clothes. He almost couldn't wait to see their two youngest members later. And he needed to know more about what had happened to Coop. He didn't really see how he had gone from a busted up paw to being brought to the hospital in 'bad condition' whatever that meant. It sure wasn't good, that was all he knew.

He managed to get his pants on without too much hassle. He reached for a pair of socks, and quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to fit a sock around the cast on his left leg. He wouldn't even be able to force the poor sock over the toe end of the cast.  
So he settled for just putting a sock on his right foot. Maybe if he borrowed a pair from Cooper, maybe that would work. He was pretty sure the Californian would understand.

He pulled his t-shirt over his shoulders and laid back down.

Even though he wanted to get to the hospital and see their two youngest, he knew he would just have to patiently wait until Pete and Box were awake and they had gotten something to eat.

Everyone who had spent time with basically any of them knew that it wasn't wise to get between a hungry Delta and edible food. And he guessed this day wouldn't be any different.  
Okay, they'd all have their heads with Cooper and Duncan while they ate, but something to eat would still be smart.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

The reveille played, and he heard the two others wake up.

Boxer was up and blinking his surroundings clear before the fourth tone sounded, while Pete needed a little more time before he was ready to be in a vertical position.

"Why?" Pete growled, his voice raw with sleep, "Why is that horrible noise messing up my sweet dreams?"

"Wakey-wakey Petey boy!" Jack cheered, as he sat back up, "Ain't it a beautiful morning this wonderful day?"

"What? No…" Pete grouched, and buried his face in his pillow once again, "It's a morning, it isn't beautiful unless you've pulled an all nighter… It's just painful!"

The two older Delta's grinned as they watched Pete try to become human.

"What do you think Box? Think he'll burn if sunlight hits him?" Jack's voice was a little too cheerful for Pete. At least judging by the paperback that came flying in his general direction. The pages flapping and fluttering as it was airborne.

"Son, you missed by a country mile…" Boxer chuckled after the book crashed with the tan fabric of the tent and fell unceremoniously to the ground.

"Shut it!" Pete grimaced as he flipped on to his back, with one arm covering his eyes. "We slept like 5 minutes!"

"Nah, we got enough…" Box shook his head, "Come on, throw some clothes on and we'll try to be the first ones in the mess hall…"

"Why would we be that?" Pete yawned, his shoulders attempting to dig him a little deeper into the bunk.

"We're going to see Coop and Dunc today, remember?" Boxer reminded, trying to jog the New Yorker's memory.

Jack wouldn't have believed how fast Pete sprang up if he hadn't seen it himself.

"OKAY, LET'S GO!" Pete smacked his hands together, momentarily pausing when his brain caught up and reminded him he was still only in his boxers.

"Clothes?"

"Right…" Pete blushed and bent down to pick up a clean set of clothes.

 **Okay, that's it for this chapter I guess… Hope you enjoyed.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Okay. Let's get this thing going.**

Cooper woke up early the next morning. A smile crept onto his face when his vision cleared enough to make out the weird form of his actual best friend crawled up across three chairs.

He turned his eyes to look at the big bad bandage wrapped around his right hand rested on top of a fluff pillow. The reason it was a bandage and not a cast was that the nurses needed to take a look at the wound twice a day, and then report to some doctor of it looked bad.

The nurse had been by when Duncan had been out looking for spare chairs to turn into a makeshift bunk yesterday.  
The whole visit had been anything but comfortable, that was for sure.

It didn't feel just as bad now, but that could always have something with the cooling liquid pouring into a vein in his left arm, through a cannula. They could have added some strong painkillers to the bag of antibiotics.  
The bag hung the wrong way for him to read any notes written down with sharpie on the front of it.

He let his head drop down against the pillow again. He was drained. It was like someone had taken all of his muscles and replaced them with silty sand. Like it took ten times the normal effort to keep his head up, or move a leg or something. He was drained. Exhausted.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

He hadn't been awake long when a nurse came over to him with a trolley. He hadn't seen her around earlier. She looked local, but when she opened her mouth she spoke with a thick Boston accent.

"Hey, how are you feeling today?"

He shrugged, and almost felt like he would get winded by the minimal task. "Tired."

"How's your pain?"

He spent a second trying to figure out of what he should give as an answer. "It's there…"

"Is it bad?" she pressed further as she reached up to twist the IV bag so that she could easier read it.

"Not bad…" Coop shrugged his left shoulder, "Just painful. In general."

She smiled, "Painful in general…"

Coop nodded.

"I don't know if the nurses or doctors told you yesterday, but we'll have to check your wounds twice a day. Is it okay if I go ahead and unwrap your hand to take a look at it now? Or do you need something more for the pain?"

"Nah… We're good…" Coop tried to issue a smile. He really felt like shit. What had felt like 5 different flus yesterday had to be 7 or 8 right now. It was probably just because his abused body had settled down. Like the soreness after a heavy workout was always worst the second or third day.

"Are you sure?"

Coop nodded, "Best to just get done with it…"

She nodded and started to head around the bed to be on the right side of him. "If it hurts too much we can pause and I can administer something a bit stronger. It will knock you out though."

"Nah…" Coop shook his head and looked up at the nures, "It hurt a lot yesterday when the evening nurse checked on it, but nothing I can't handle…"

She rolled her eyes, "You special forces guys are all the same, right?"

"Who told you we were special forces…?" Coop frowned, "There's a better chance we're just a couple of regular grunts…"

"It's practically written all over you…" she smirked, and cast a glance over at Duncan who was still out cold on top of the three chairs acting like an emergency bed, "Both of you…"

"Him? Nah… He could never be anything that cool…" Coop joked, "Just look at him… He's about as harmless as a 2 week old kitten…"

"Hmm… Somehow I don't believe you…" she chuckled and pointed at Coop's hand, "Would you be able to hold that up for me, or do I need to ask someone else to come and support it for you?"

While not having to deal with it himself would have been a lot easier, he needed the small 'wins'. Like being able to get through this without needing two nurses to help him.

"You just need me to hold it up like this, right?" he asked as he demonstrated it with his left arm. She nodded. "I can do that…"

"Okay…"

Cooper nodded and used his left hand to gently guide his right arm into position.

He tried to ignore the pain, but couldn't help but let it bleed out across his features.

"Are you good there soldier?" the nurse asked, worried dark eyes meeting his, "Do you want me to go get someone to help after all? Or maybe taking me up on that offer of something stronger would be a good choice?"

Coop shook his head, "No, it's fine…"

"Okay, if you say so…" she nodded and removed the pins that secured the bandage, "You can call it quits whenever you feel like it…"

Coop nodded, and attempted another smile, "Well, I ain't no quitter…"

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He really wished he was a quitter. He would easily have admitted that much, if he hadn't been too busy gritting his teeth.

"You good champ?" the nurse asked as she stopped in her tracks to take a look at Cooper.

He nodded, speaking didn't feel safe right now.

"Need to quit?"

He shook his head.

"Need a pause then?"

He shook his head again, figuring that he would just have to force a couple of words past his lips anyway, "No. Just get the bandage off."

"Okay, then maybe a pause then?"

He nodded, "Maybe."

The nurse kept on peeling away the layers of the bandage as gently as humanly possible. It still wasn't gentle enough to not cause Cooper pain, but it could be debated whether it was act of removing the bandage, or holding his arm in that position, or just his hand being in the condition it was in that caused him all that pain.

He kept on wordlessly begging the pain to stop, but there was no mercy headed his way.

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The final layer of the bandage was peeled back and revealed his heavily bruised and swollen hand. Then she removed the splint stabilizing his thumb. She did it as gently as she could, but Coop still winced as pain shot through his thumb and wrist. She apologized. He tried to brush it away like it was nothing.

"There…" the nurse smiled gently at him, "You've deserved a little pause now, don't you think? Just a second more."

She took one of those absorbent squares from the trolley and shook it out over the pillow he had his hand rested on earlier. "Now, do you need help lower your arm onto that?"

Coop shook his head, "No… Think it's best if I do that myself. I know which parts of my hand really DON'T want any pressure at all…"

The nurse nodded and watched as Cooper ran his good hand up the outside of his forearm with a feather light touch, before he reached the outer side of his palm and started to guide the mangled hand towards the pillow.

She watched him let out a relieved breath when his arm finally rested against the pillow and he hadn't jarred anything.

"Do you need a little time before I clean it for you?"

Cooper nodded, before gritting out an answer, "A minute or two would be wonderful…"

"Okay…" she nodded again, "We've got fresh coffee over at the nurses station, do you want me to bring a cup back for you? You'll have to wait with drinking it until I'm done with you though…"

He hadn't been hungry yesterday when he was awake, and he wasn't now either. But a good cup of coffee sounded like it could do him good.

"Is it strong?"

"Well, most of us live by the belief that a strong cup of coffee might be enough, but a cup of weak coffee is sure to be enough…" the nurse grinned, "Yeah, it's usually strong. Do you want a cup?"

"That'd be great miss…" Coop winked.

"Okay, you think your buddy there want a cup too?"

"Yeah, he's also a member of the caffeine-holics." Coop grinned.

"Cream? Sugar?"

"No, just black…"

"Both?"

Coop nodded.

"Okay, I'll be back soon…"

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He peeked down at his hand. The wound was a little bit longer than he remembered from out in the desert. But it looked clean and was stitched up as neatly as he guessed the original wound could ever be stitched up.

His whole hand was still puffy, swollen and colorful. The color wasn't just bruising, it was also redness from the infection.

Even though it didn't look near as bad and threatening as when he had seen it out in the desert, it still looked awful.

His eyes fell on his wrist. It was shapeless, it didn't remind him of a wrist, it looked more like a multicolored fleshy log.

The curious part of his brain wanted him to move it, test it. But every other part of him overruled it, and called it the worst idea in the history of his bad ideas. All those parts were probably right, and there was no way he would actually test it. He didn't like pain. (Contrary to whatever popular beliefs might be…)

He looked over at his fingers. They were sizably bigger than the ones on his left hand. Quite swollen.  
But they were nothing compared to his thumb. His thumb, and that side of his wrist, was comically swollen.

He looked back up as he heard determined footsteps approaching. It was the nurse.

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"Feeling better?"

"A little…" Cooper nodded as the nurse set down two cups of coffee on the nightstand, before she stepped over to the trolley and donned a new pair of gloves.

"So, may I continue?"

Cooper nodded and was about to guide his hand back up to the previous position when the nurse stopped him.

"No, just let it rest there…" she said, holding a hand out like she was telling a dog or something to stay.

"Okay?"

"Yeah, think it'll be easier for both of us." She said as she poured some liquid from a bottle into a dish. She prepared some more stuff before she rolled the trolley past the still sleeping Duncan.

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The soaked cotton ball sweeping across his skin wasn't exactly soothing. But since he guessed it was a necessity, he did his best to hold his discomfort to himself.

Plus, he had a thing against looking like a sissy in front of women.

"Are you doing alright?"

"Yep." The sharp inhale that followed couldn't be stopped.

"You sure?"

Cooper nodded, "It's fine."

"You can always give me a head's up if you'd like to not be awake for this…" she said removing the cotton ball she held with some forceps from his hand to change it for a new one.

"Nah…" Cooper closed his eyes, and his brows knitted together, "Just get done with it. It won't take that long, am I right? I can take it."

She nodded and grabbed the next cotton ball with the forceps. "All things considered, your hand is looking great."

"I thought it looked like someone had slammed down with it with a baseball bat."

"I said all things considered, didn't I?" the nurse chuckled.

"Touché…" Coop nodded.

"But it's actually looking better now…"

"You've seen it before?"

"I was there in the operating room, for hours…" she spared a look up at Cooper's eyes, "We all thought you would die…"

"Well… It didn't stick…" Coop flashed a sideways grin.

"If you're trying to be funny, you're failing miserably." The nurse shook her head, "By all 'rules' of what a human can go through, you should be dead right now. That's nothing to laugh about. It's serious."

Cooper's smile disappeared, and he bit down on his lower lip, "Well…"

"Well what?" her face gentled a little.

He wanted to say that it was a way to get through life. A way to keep himself from breaking down crying when life really slapped him around. But he knew not everyone understood that kind of 'humor'.

"Well, I didn't really…" Coop shrugged, "I didn't really think it through…"

She smirked, "Okay, well… Actually, it could be a little funny… If you hadn't scared all of us in there…"

Coop smirked, "So am I forgiven?"

"As long as you can forgive me for continuing to clean that hand of yours, then yeah."

"Okay, yeah. Deal." Coop nodded, "But hey, one more thing. That guy…"

He tipped his head towards Duncan, "He doesn't need to know how close I was… Okay?"

"I won't tell him…" she nodded, "But you ought to…"

"Nah…" Coop shook his head, "Best if he doesn't know…"

She let out a sigh, then looked down at his hand again, "Ready?"

He nodded and pressed his lips hard together.

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Some minutes later, they were all done. Cooper's hand was in a new and neat boxing glove of a bandage. He once again had it rested on top of the pillow on his chest.

He took a swig of his coffee, looked at Duncan and wondered if he should wake him up, or let him come to on his own.

 **Okay. Stalling. Stalling. Stalling.  
Anyone feel like I'm stalling?  
Anyone excited for Jack, Box and Pete to finally getting to the hospital to check on Coop? And meet Duncan…**


	26. Chapter 26

**Okay, we're past 45k words now.  
What the heck happened? I planned on 3 chapters. 10k words, tops.**

Duncan sat with a magazine once again. Cooper had woken him up about an hour ago, with a warm cup of coffee. But then, half an hour later the oversized Californian had started blinking more and more, and finally drifted off to catch a little more rest.

He was deep in an article about mammography, (Yes. It was a women's magazine. About the only magazine he hadn't flipped through already.) when he heard some familiar chatter coming from down the hallway.

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"Quit babyin' me! I can very well make it over to them myself!"

"I ain't babyin' ya!" another voice answered, equally as annoyed, "I'm just tryin' to avoid you steppin' down on that leg when those crutches slip because you take too long strides!"

"Guys…" a third voice sighed, "behave…"

"You tell 'im to behave!" the first voice scoffed, "I'm already behavin'!"

"Ah-uh…" the third voice disagreed, "I'm on team with Box here. You should slow down. Before you hurt yourself."

"Before he hurts himself EVEN MORE…" the second voice added with a sigh.

"I've been on crutches before, remember?"

"Yeah! And you're still a walking safety hazard!"

"Relax Box, I've got control… Bed 12, right?"

"Just slow down a bit, will ya?"

"Boss, Box is right…" the third voice added, "And yeah, bed 12…"

Duncan grinned and closed the magazine, quickly placing it on top of the nightstand that belonged to the next bed.

He had just sat back down when Jack, Boxer and Pete came into view as they passed the curtain pulled forward three beds closer to the entrance.

"There they are!" Pete grinned, quickening his pace to be the first one to reach them. He lowered his voice as soon as he realized Coop was asleep "Hi, how are you guys doing?"

"Oh… You know…" Dunc hitched up his shoulders, "I'm fine. Coop says he's fine…"

"And how is our kid really?" Jack asked as he reached the foot end of the bed, leaning heavily on his crutches, a sheen of sweat glistening across his forehead and wet markings showing on his grey t-shirt.

"Been better. Overheard some chatter from a couple of the doctors yesterday. They were surprised he didn't die on the table…" Dunc frowned, "I don't think he knows that yet, but… How are you by the way? Why the crutches? And the cast?"

"Old Wyatt here got part of a 7.62x39 shot into his leg, broke one of the bones on impact." Boxer answered as he took the two free chairs and set them on the other side of the bed. Then he looked up at Jack, "Sit."

"Yes mom…" Jack drawled and rolled his eyes, but he sat down obediently.

"Shit, are you okay?"

"I'm good…" Jack smiled, "Just need to stay off the leg for a while. Definitely not the worst fracture I've had…"

"I'll go find an extra chair…" Pete informed as he patted Dunc on the shoulder. "Good to see ya brother…"

"Good to see the bunch of you too…"

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There was voices around him. But he wasn't sure if he wanted to open his eyes yet, his head felt a little like syrup covered cotton. And his hand hurt like, like a lot… Maybe if he just kept his eyes closed it wouldn't hurt as bad?

He swallowed and let out a sigh.

"You think he's waking up?…" Okay, he started to recognize the voices, that sounded a lot like Boxer.

"Maybe…" Duncan answered, "He's been out for almost two hours now…"

Okay, maybe he should force his eyes open.

"Yeah, I think he is…" Pete added.

Yeah, no he had to open his eyes.

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Opening his eyes he saw Pete sitting on a chair with his legs crossed under him. Duncan sat in the next chair, he had slid down as far as it was possible to slide down on his seat without falling off the chair. And he had his legs propped up on the edge of the bed Coop was laying in.

He looked over at the other side of the bed and found Boxer and Jack on a couple of chairs.

Boxer sat fairly normal, Jack too, if you didn't mind Jack's left leg propped up on Boxer's lap.

"What's up with your leg?"

"The question should be how are YOU feelin'…?" Jack countered, with a raised eyebrow.

"Tired. Sore. My hand hurts." Coop shrugged, "Other than that, super. Now you, what's up?"

"Broke m'leg." Jack shrugged, "Now it's in a cast."

"And a shoe-cover?" Cooper asked pointing to one of those blue shoe-cover things used in clean factories and some other places.

"Yeah…" Jack blushed a little, "Yeah, it was windy outside today, and… Sand and cast isn't the funniest combo I've ever tried before…"

"Okay?"

"No need making an itchy cast even itchier…" Jack shrugged.

"Now, are we gonna talk about how much you guys scared the living crap outta us?" Boxer drawled as he removed his hand from where it rested on top of Jack's cast, and crossed his arms over his chest.

 _Oh, heck…_

"You guys…" Boxer started, looking first at Cooper, then at Duncan, before he finally bobbed his head in Jack's direction as a clue for him to continue.

"Made us worry a lot." Jack nodded.

"When we got back to camp and the nurses hadn't seen either of you…" Boxer shook his head and sighed.

"-We might have gone a little crazy…" Pete shot in, glancing at Dunc and Coop, "I mean, nobody had seen or heard from you…"

"And, we knew you had to trek through miles and miles of terrain." Jack frowned.

"Yeah." Boxer nodded, "Miles and miles of possible mines and hostile encounters."

Coop felt his mouth go dry, even though he hardly could have done anything to change what the older Delta's had gone through. He'd been unconscious for the last part of it, unable to send a message back to base and make sure the team would know where they were. But still, team parents could be really frightening. –Even though they were short.

He spared a glance over at Dunc, his buddy looked just as uncomfortable.

"It took us a really long time to figure out where you were…" Pete accused and cleared his voice, "Personally, I haven't been as scared since Kabul back in 2002…"

"What happened then?" Duncan dared to ask. His eyes straight forward, intentionally not making eye contact.

"The three of us, Charlie and the guy that was our leader back then almost met our maker." Boxer shrugged, "Closest Pete's been yet."

Jack nodded, "Yeah."

Then Boxer looked at Jack and Pete, and winked at each of them.

Pete untangled himself and sat forward with a very serious expression. Tilting his head to look at both Duncan and Coop. His voice every bit as serious when he started talking "In other words…"

"-we're just EXTREMELY GLAD THAT YOU'RE ALIVE!" Jack picked up where Pete trailed off. Barely keeping his voice to an acceptable level as his serious mien broke apart to a grin.

The three oldest laughed, leaving Duncan and Coop lost for words for a short minute.

Then Cooper let out a nervous laugh, before he rolled his eyes. "Douchebags…"

"That's all they ever are…" Duncan added as he loosened up from the shock the three older had left him in. Then he started laughing too. "Total douchebags."

"With no bedside manner…" Coop added, "It's cruel to scare me like that when I'm here like this…"

He punctuated the complaint by gesturing to the thick bandage around his right hand.

"Aw, come on man…" Boxer chuckled, "It's just a little friendly fun…"

"Still cruel though…" Coop sighed.

 **Okay, another chapter done and posted. Hope you enjoyed.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello darlings. Hope you're having fun…**

His new guests had been there for about an hour and maybe some minutes when Coop felt himself blinking more and more often. It was a struggle to keep his eyes open, to be honest.

He took a deep breath, stifling a yawn that threatened to escape. Blinked some more.

Finally he realized he just had to give in. There was no way around it. None.

Clearing his voice he looked at each of his guests sitting around him, "Look, figured I'd give you guys a fair warning… If I doze off… Just ignore me, alright?"

"You feeling tired big guy?" Pete tilted his head as he asked.

Coop nodded, offering a smirk before he answered "You guys aren't interesting enough to keep me awake. Sorry…"

"Oh damn…" Duncan laughed, before mouthing 'shots fired'.

"I think you're included in that one Dunc…" Jack chuckled.

"Am I?" Dunc asked as he looked over at Coop.

"Yeah. You are…" Cooper smirked, before playfully adding "Y'all are boring…"

"Seriously… You can't speak with a Texan accent, you know that?"

"Yeah…" Cooper chuckled lightly, "But seriously, I'm tired as shit. So… Don't take it personal if I suddenly zone out…"

"Of course we won't…" Boxer nodded, before another thought dropped into his head, "Hey, you want us to leave? Are we annoying you?"

"Not me…" Cooper shook his head, "And most of the other ones in this hall aren't awake anyway so… Just stay if you want, a little company is good."

"Alright…" Boxer nodded.

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They chatted for about 10 more minutes before they noticed that the tall Californian's eyes had closed and his breath had evened out in sleep.

"Poor guy must really feel like shit…" Pete frowned, looking at Coop's sleeping expression. His eyebrows were pinched together, something he had managed to force away when he was awake.

"Yeah. He's probably putting on a brave face…" Dunc sighed.

"You said the people here said they were surprised he made it off the table…" Jack shot in, his eyebrows rising up in a worried expression.

"Well, that was the mild version." Duncan swallowed hard. A hand running up to glide through his short-short hair, "What they really said was that he _should_ have died…"

"Wow…" Boxer frowned and looked at the currently sleeping Californian.

"Yeah." Duncan nodded, his face had lost all expression, "I haven't really felt right since I heard them say that… Couldn't sleep for hours last night."

"And you're sure it was him they talked about?" Pete asked, noticeably paler than usual.

"Haven't seen anyone else here that I could describe as a 'blond giant with a messed up hand' yet…" Duncan nodded, "They were talking about him…"

Jack looked at Duncan first, then his eyes shifted over to Coop. "That guy sure doesn't do anything half-assed…"

"Yeah, well… Except dying…" Box shrugged, earning himself a hard slap from Jack. "Ow… It's a good thing!"

"Oh, I know…" Jack grinned, "Just really needed to get back at you for taking two in the vest out there… And scaring the crap outta me."

"You don't think taking two in the vest was punishment enough?" Boxer scrounged up his nose as his right hand went up to rub over the area where the two bullets had hit the vest. "That shit hurt…"

Jack shrugged, "Yeah, maybe that was enough."

"It was…" Box scowled back.

"How about this, one free punch when we're outta here." Jack offered.

"Nah… You've already got a broken leg. That's enough." Boxer drawled and tapped the fingers of his left hand over Jack's cast.

"Well, if our two oldest weirdos are done being themselves, can we get back to Coop?" Pete asked and looked over at Duncan, "Have you heard more? Like, something specific?"

"Nah…" Duncan shook his head, "Well, they did say things, but it was all medical terms that I didn't understand the lick of… And I don't remember any of it either."

"Ah… Too bad." Pete sighed, "Would have been interesting to know a little bit more…"

"You think you would have understood it?"

"Maybe…" Pete shrugged, "If it wasn't too technical…"

"You know what Pete?" Box started, waiting for him to respond.

"What?"

"When we get done with this, and get back to the real life, for good…" Boxer drawled, "You should really become a doctor, Doc…"

"What? Why?"

"Well, you've obviously got the interest." Jack shrugged, "I mean, you read through that thick bible of a book about what-was-it just for fun a few weeks ago…"

"Gray's anatomy?"

"Isn't that a TV-show?" Jack scratched his scruff as he looked over at Pete.

"No… It's the name of the book…"

"I'm pretty sure it's a TV-show…" Duncan shrugged, "One of my sisters is obsessed with it… Grey's Anatomy, a medical show…"

"Okay, maybe it is a TV-show too then, but it's also a book."

"You've gotta check out the show next time we're back home, tell us what's best of the show or the book."

"It's not the same thing!"

"How can you say that? You haven't seen the show yet…" Jack shrugged.

"Well, the book… Gray's Anatomy, is written by Henry Gray and is a textbook of human anatomy… There can't be a TV-show about that… And it's the best known book about human anatomy…"

"Never heard of it…" Jack shrugged.

"Of course you haven't…" Pete all but rolled his eyes, "You don't care about that stuff. You're good with knowing the stuff a kid knows about the body. You don't have interest in knowing that the scapula is the shoulder blade or that the rectus abdominis is the muscle that shows when you show off your six-pack."

"He's got a point there…" Boxer shrugged.

"It's like… You know a lot more about classic cars than me." Pete shrugged, "I know they exist, I think they're cool. But I can't tell you what kind of car it is just by the sound alone or anything…"

"But for real…" Boxer started with the intention of bringing them back to what he had originally stated, "When you get done here, you should go to medical school or something…"

"No… I can't do that…" Pete shook his head, "I'll be old when I figure out that I'm done here… And that degree takes a lot of years… I'll be ready for retirement before I'm done becoming a doctor…"

"Come on Doc…" Duncan grinned and jabbed Pete in the arm with his elbow, "We're all gonna need you when we're done with the military…"

"You're all going to be all over the American map…" Pete shot back, "I'll be in New York, you'll be in Chicago… Coop up in northern California. And those two goons will be down in Texas… Your math isn't working…"

"Okay, maybe not…" Duncan grinned, "But you'd be a great doctor…"

Pete shrugged, "Maybe, 'in another life'…"

"Oh, don't start with that crap…" Box rolled his eyes, "You could very well become a doctor after you retire from our group. Say you figure out that you're done when you're 40… That'd be reasonable…"

"Even though you two are still here now?" Duncan smirked.

"Hey, we're not wired for anything else…" Jack shot in.

"Hey, I plan on one-upping the two of you…" Pete smirked, "Say you go to you're 41, I'll go 42… You get out at 45, I'll damn well make 46…"

"I think our doc's got a bit of a competitor in him…" Box chuckled, "What do you think Wyatt?"

"He's always had that…" Jack shrugged, "Right from the first time we saw him…"

"That's true…" Boxer nodded, "But son, you better start re-evaluate that plan of yours, cause were planning on staying until there's no other choice…"

"You're not scaring me, Box…" Pete smirked, "I think I'll be able to pass you, I mean… Watching the two of you for a lot of years, my chances are good. I don't do half as many crazy stunts as our crazy boss, and I usually keep a little more distance to the craziest person in the group than you do Box… If you two can make it this long without being severely injured or killed, I'm sure I can too…"

"Nah… You're more of a family man…" Jack smirked, "You've got that girl, Becky is it?"

"Yeah, Becky…" Pete smiled, "She's amazing!"

"Ain't he cute?" Box scrounged up his nose and looked over at Jack, "I mean, they had a couple of months together during our last leave, and they've been 'pen pals' for 7 and a half months or so…"

"She is amazing." Pete stated in a serious tone.

"Aw, give him some slack Box…" Jack smirked, "Who knows, maybe he has more luck than the two of us have had. I mean, our first boss here, he had a wife, and a bunch of kids. Worked out for him. Could work out for Pete too…"

"Just mentioning that it USUALLY don't work out for us…" Box shrugged, "But, consider it Pete. You'd be one hell of a doctor."

Pete shrugged, "Okay, if I figure out that I'm tired of this before I'm too old to complete the degree and work for a good portion of years before I retire, I'll consider it. That's all you're getting, okay."

"All we needed to hear…" Duncan smirked.

 **Okay, that's today's chapter. Hope you enjoyed!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Okay… Here comes another chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

When the short relief of jokes died down, Jack was left to his own thoughts for a while.

He didn't like his own thoughts, -he had never really liked his brain all that much.  
And it wasn't because he was stupid or anything. Just the fact that he was smart enough to make _the unit_ spoke testimony to him being of above average intelligence. Whatever that was supposed to mean. He didn't care. He hated his brain.

It had a special way of delivering just as damaging punches as his fists could, but in the opposite direction. So normally, he tried to just, forget that the thing on top of his shoulders worked.

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Dunc had told it to him, the doctors had said Coop should have died.

To Jack it still looked like there was a reasonable chance that might still happen, taken how sick and awful the Californian looked.

Jack felt the all too familiar, dreaded ball of remorse curl up in his gut. It felt like it weighed a ton, and the weight was painful.

If Coop had died, if he still died, it would be on him. It would be his damn fault, for not going against every bit of training the unit had forced down on him.  
There was a reason why they carried their own personal body-bag with them on ops. They had pretty much been instructed that if it came down to their life or finishing the missions, they should do everything in their power to finish the mission. (Preferably with all team members alive, but still…)

He should have chickened out. He should have called in MEDEVAC right then and there when they realized Coop was a whole lot of pain.

Damn that mission. It had been a disaster from start to end.

He should have just scrapped the mission as soon as it started going to hell. Let some other Delta's or some SEALs even pick up where they left off. Coop wouldn't be as bad right now if he'd done it like that.

Coop would still have a broken hand, and he would still have that massive gash the thick bandage hid, but he wouldn't have gotten to the point where he was a hairsbreadth from death.

And frankly, those rules could bite the dust themselves. His men were way more important than that.

The ball in his gut tightened as another thought entered his mind. The horrible thought that _if_ Cooper had died, someone would have had to tell Inga and Karl that their youngest son had died. Jack could barely imagine how it would be for a family to lose both their children (even as grown men.)

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"Hey…" he felt a hand tap on his left knee, and it brought him back to the present, "You looked like you were getting a little lost there…"

Jack looked up and met Boxer's eyes, nodding.

"Hey, being lost in thought never led to anything good…" Boxer winked, knowing his best friend well enough to figure out what was happening in Jack's top floor.

A quick apologetic smirk flashed across Jack's lips. "Yeah, you're right…"

"Hey, was you who told me that first…"

"That's gotta be long ago…"

"Couple of decades ago…"

Jack nodded, "Yeah… That's true…"

Boxer didn't follow up on that for a few seconds, he just sat back and studied Duncan and Pete out cold in each of their seats, then he looked over at Jack again.

"So, fishing…" Box winked, knowing that Jack would catch up on their code phrase for speaking about tough stuff, "Are you gonna be in a hurry to get out there by the creek when you get home?"

Smiling, Jack shook his head. "Nah… I'm not in a hurry…"

"That's good," Box winked, "Think that leg of yours deserves a bit of rest before you do anything strenuous…"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, but I might want to get out and catch a few fish later on…"

"Sounds like a good plan…" Boxer nodded, "Just give me a hint if you need someone to help you carry anything…"

Jack nodded again, "Might need a little help, yeah…"

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Cooper spent a couple of seconds before he realized where he was.

He looked around, and saw that his friends were still there. All around his hospital bed.

He rubbed his blurry eyes and blinked a few times to clear his vision. When he was satisfied with the result, he looked back at the others and found a pair of deep brown eyes staring back at him.

The others were asleep.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough to knock out three sleep deprived operators…" Jack drawled, "About six hours…"

"And you're still here?"

He saw the corner of Jack's lips quirk up before the older man crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, "Of course we are…"

 _But why?_ Cooper immediately knew that he wouldn't need to ask the question. Jack had obviously seen it on his face.

"Because we care about you. And you kinda scared the living crap outta everybody. Doctors included…"

"Doctors included…" Coop pressed his lips hard together, "You know?"

"If I've heard one of the most chilling sentences of my life?" Jack re-phrased it, "Yeah, I know kid…"

"Listen, my brain is all fried right now… Don't make it difficult for me…" Cooper closed his eyes and frowned.

"I know exactly how bad it was at a point…" Jack answered with a hushed voice, "No one in the operating room thought you had much of a chance. Dunc said he heard someone say that by all reason, you should not have made it…"

Coop nodded, "Yeah, the nurse that changed my dressing this morning told me pretty much the same thing… Dunc knows…?"

"Dunc knows." Jack confirmed.

Cooper's face twisted in some kind of pain, not physical for once. "Poor guy, I must really have scared him this time…"

Jack almost coughed, he knew that if he pressed the guy too much he would just lock up and try to twist the attention away from himself at any cost, _but still…_ "Dude, that's not what you should be worrying about now… You. Almost. Died."

"Yeah, I feel the part too…" Coop frowned.

"Want me to grab one of the nurses for you?" Jack sat up a little straighter in his seat, while his cast covered leg remained elevated on Boxer's lap.

"Nah…" Cooper shook his head gently, "Think next step on the medicine scale is knocking me out anyway… And I can deal with whatever pain's left… But I really feel like I've got the man-flu…"

"What? You?" Jack allowed himself to put on a smile, "But you never get sick…"

"I think I make up for it once every other decade or something…" Coop answered before clearing his voice a little, "This shit sure sucks."

Jack couldn't help but smile at the honesty in Coop's words, "Bet it does…"

"-It does…" Coop repeated, then looked at the others, "When did they drift off?"

"Pete and Dunc, a few hours ago. Box, like 25 minutes ago…" Jack shrugged, "Why?"

"Just wanted a feel for how likely they are to wake up soon…"

Jack nodded, "How's the paw?"

"Use your imagination…" Coop shrugged and scowled down at the many layers of bandage covering his right hand.

"Me? Use my imagination?"

Coop nodded, "Don't tell them though…"

"No, I won't…" Jack sighed, "It's really bad, isn't it?"

"Honestly? Yeah…" Coop admitted, but still looked away. Unable to meet Jack's eyes. "Look, I'm coming back…"

"Well, no one will ever say that you're not a determined one… That's for sure…"

"I'm coming back. It's gonna take time and it's gonna be tough. Painful. And right now it feels about impossible…"

"Snowball's chance in hell?"

"Actually… A snowball's chance in Hell, at least during wintertime, is pretty darn good…"

"What?"

"There's this place in Norway, called Hell." Coop smirked, "Means 'luck' in Norwegian… One of my cousins moved there a couple of years ago. Still cracks me up though…"

"Hell, means 'luck'?"

"Yeah… Or fortune…" Coop nodded.

"So… How often does Hell freeze over then?"

"Each winter I guess…" Coop shrugged a little, "It's pretty far north… Gets really cold there…"

"All joking aside… The thought of getting back feels about impossible right now…?" Jack shifted the focus back on Coop's hand, he knew that the youngest Delta wouldn't allow that after the others woke up, and he knew that it would have to be his task to keep their focus on Coop's hand. He knew the Californian was more likely to crack jokes than to talk about stuff that worried him.

"Yeah…" Coop nodded once more, "Right now it kinda feels like they should have just chopped it off, I mean, it could hardly hurt any worse…"

"You're not meaning that…" Jack didn't really understand what he was feeling right at this moment, the only way to describe it was unsettling.

"I don't want them to do it…" Coop held up his left hand dismissively, "I want to keep it. But I mean it too… I can't really imagine it hurting any worse…"

"Ow…" Jack frowned, and Coop nodded.

They both looked at the thick bandage placed on top of the pillow that rested on his chest.

"Would it be better if you had it more elevated?" Jack asked after a few seconds.

"Probably not…" Cooper shook his head, "I feel I'm gonna end up with a sore shoulder from having it up like it is already. Don't think an extra pillow would do much for my hand. But I'm almost sure my shoulder wouldn't like it much…"

Jack nodded deep in thought, "Sucks…"

"Yeah, it does…" Coop agreed.

Jack tilted his head, eyes trained on the white bandage. "But you're still coming back… That's what you're saying?"

Coop nodded, "You better bet I do…"

"Hey, I know just how stubborn all of you are…" Jack smirked, "There's no way I'm betting against you."

Coop nodded, "Wise man…"

"So how long do you think it's gonna take?"

Coop shrugged, "Don't know yet. Kinda need to hear what the doctors who are going to fix my thumb and wrist has to say about that too…"

"Yeah… Of course…" Jack nodded.

"Bet I'll be good to go before the longest recovery period they set up for me…"

"What's that gonna be? Never?"

"Nah, the longest measured." Coop clarified, "If it's under three months, gonna beat it by one week. If it's half a year, two weeks… More than that, I might as well try to beat it with a month…"

"Ever heard you're overly optimistic?" Jack chuckled.

"Yeah, from you… A lot of times…" Coop winked.

"Yeah, well… You're overly optimistic sometimes…" Jack rolled his eyes, "But I'll be cheering for you…"

"Thanks man…"

 **Okay. We've passed 50k…  
*looks around confused*  
What the heck happened…?**


	29. Chapter 29

**Okay… So…**

 **Next chapter…**

Jack hadn't slept much during the night. They had all somehow convinced the staff to let them stay the night over, and they had all arranged some chair-bunk like thing to sleep on. It wasn't the best sleeping spot he'd ever tried to sleep on, but it wasn't the worst either.

The general discomfort the chairs brought him hadn't been what kept him awake. No, it had been the unsettling words from earlier.

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So in the dark of night, he laid and listened to Coop's breath.  
In a way it was weird, weird how you could distinguish someone's breathing pattern after being with them for so long. He didn't have to strain his ears or focus, he knew exactly which breaths was Cooper's and which belonged to the other guys on his team, and then there were a whole bunch of other unfamiliar soft snores and slow inhales and exhales.

Another thing that was weird was how normal it was, Coop's breath. It had been confirmed to him multiple times already, he had almost died, he should have died.  
Yet, Jack couldn't really pick out anything _wrong_ with the way Coop's breaths sounded now while he slept.  
He wasn't sure whether it was comforting or unsettling.

He checked his wristwatch again, the sun would soon rise outside, and another day would start. It was about 45 minutes until he almost expected the staff to turn all the lights back on again, not just the lamp by the bed of the persons they had to check on during the night.

It was a small comfort that the nurses didn't hang around Coop's bed all night, somehow it gave Jack the feeling that it would all turn out alright in the end. He hoped that was the case at least.  
They had only been by his bed twice during the night. Once to check on him, and once when Coop woke up because his hand was hurting enough to wake him up and he had 'called for' them to get something to help with the problem.

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He hadn't been far off when he guessed when the staff would turn on the overhead lights.

He heard a few of nurses walking down the length of the room, he turned his head and saw three nurses. One stopped by the second or third bed on the left, the second stopped by the next bed on the opposite side. The third one was headed directly for them.

She stopped by the foot end of Coop's bed and looked at the three Delta's that were asleep on the chairs, then with an amused smirk she looked at Jack, he offered a slight shrug. Then she danced past Jack and Boxer and tried to wake Coop up. It didn't take much, the big Californian didn't sleep all that deep, obviously.

"Hey…" she murmured in a low voice, "It's time to take a look at the wound again. How's your pain level? Are you ready or do you need something more?"

Cooper cleared his voice a little, and tried to get some 'sleep' out of his eyes with the back of his left thumb. "I'm good…"

"Okay. Would you like me to ask these guests of yours to go grab a coffee while I take care of your hand?"

Cooper looked at Jack, then at the three of his teammates who were asleep. "The one in need of crutches can stay… The others look like they could use a cup of Joe…"

The nurse nodded, Jack did too.

Jack woke up Boxer and the nurse took care of waking up the two others.

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Once the other three had left and the nurse headed to get the tray with the stuff she needed, Jack looked up at Coop, "Sure you don't want me to leave too?"

"Nah, you've already seen me broken down and beat up so to speak…" Coop sighed.

"The others have too…" Jack shrugged.

Coop bobbed his head once, "Yeah, but you've seen the absolute low point of that… The others haven't…"

Jack nodded. "How's the hand?"

Coop shrugged, "How's the leg?"

"You first." Jack shook his head.

"Okay… It hurts." Coop admitted, "Now you…"

"Yeah, well… I can feel it's been both shot and broken a little, but it's not all that bad when I keep it up…" Jack shrugged, "And how are you feeling?"

"What?"

"Everything else?"

Cooper looked around a little, before he looked back at Jack, "Like, everything's sore… My head feels funny, my ears are pounding, I feel like I'm gonna throw up if I eat or drink something today?"

"You feel sick?"

Coop shrugged, "I sure don't feel healthy…"

"No, but… Should we have a couple of those kidney basins ready for you?"

Coop chuckled, "Nah… Think we're good as long as I don't eat or drink any…"

"You sure?"

Coop nodded.

"Maybe we should tell the nurse…" Jack shrugged, "In case it's a bad thing…"

"No… I already told the nurse who checked on my arm last night, when you guys were out getting some grub…"

"You felt like this yesterday too?"

"Started feeling it yesterday, yeah… Feels about three times worse today, but she prepared me for that…" Coop shrugged, "She said it was common side effects from both the antibiotics and whatever I get for the pain. And that it probably was gonna get worse too…"

"Yeah, side effects have a tendency of beating you when you're already down…" Jack chuckled.

"Side effects fights even more unfair than you do, Boss…"

"Yeah, I don't fight fair, but you're no better in a real fight."

Cooper closed his eyes as a small smile attempted to crawl onto his lips, "Yeah, true…"

"Anything else?"

"General discomfort, headache, stomach ache…" Coop shrugged, "But that's not all that bad yet…"

"Still want us here?"

"As long as I don't start puking, yeah…" Cooper chuckled, "If I do that, I think at least Dunc should leave, prolly the rest of y'all too…"

"I'm gonna let you butchering Texan slide this time…" Jack chuckled, "If only because you probably feel worse than crap right now…"

"Don't think I feel _worse_ than crap yet… But if the nurse is right about this getting worse, I probably will feel worse than crap soon enough…"

Jack nodded, "I'm sorry to tell you kid, nurses are in my experience pretty right about that kind of stuff…"

"Well, shit…" Coop scrounged up his nose, "This is not gonna be any kind of fun…"

"No, it ain't…" Jack agreed.

"Well, at least it's gonna get better afterwards…" Coop sighed.

"Yeah…"

"Better focus on that then…" Coop attempted to force a short laugh, but it lacked the energy and just about everything else that might have turned it into a passable attempt.

"Yeah, it's something to hold onto…" Jack agreed as the nurse came back with a trolley full of stuff.

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Jack watched as the nurse unwrapped and started cleaning around the stitched up wound. He couldn't help but catch when Coop flinched or tried to stiffen sounds of discomfort.

"It looks good…" the nurse said to Coop with a nod, "It's still very red and it's going to be swollen like this for a good while, but there's nothing to indicate that the nasty infection you had in the wound is going to come back."

"That's good…" Jack smiled encouragingly.

"That's great." The nurse nodded, "We will have to keep checking on the wound until it's healed over."

Coop nodded.

She finished cleaning the wound and let Coop's arm rest on top of the absorbent pad she had placed on top of the pillow he rested his hand on. "We'll let this air dry… I've got a feeling you're happier the less I mess around with that paw of yours…"

Coop nodded, "Yeah, it's not my favorite part of the day…"

Jack chose that moment to allow himself to stand up and take a peek at Coop's hand. "Kid, that looks really awful…"

"Believe me, it looked worse before I got here…"

"Hard to believe…" Jack frowned.

"It's true…" the nurse grimaced, "I saw the picture of how his hand looked when he came in here. It looked way worse than this."

"Well, this doesn't look good either…" Jack tilted his head as he studied the patchwork better.

"I think we can agree on that…" the nurse said, "It looks painful, but considering how bad it was, it looks 'good'."

"It's gonna be real bad when you guys want me to actually start moving my fingers again…" Cooper frowned, "That's a day I don't look forward to…"

"Yeah, I wouldn't look forward to that either…" the nurse nodded, "It's probably going to be sore for a long time after you've had the other surgeries too."

"So, you don't want him to move his fingers yet?"

"It's more on the… 'It's okay if he wants to, and feels alright about it. But we won't make him do it before they have fixed up his thumb and wrist too.' And right now I don't know if he would be able to move his fingers much because of the swelling alone…"

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing…" Coop shot in, "One thing is for certain, I'm not going to test it…"

"Probably a good choice…" Jack nodded, "It's colorful…"

"Every color between purple and blue on the color wheel." Coop gritted his teeth as he studied his hand, "-If you go around it both ways…"

"I was just about to say you were brushing over it, until you saved it with that last comment…" Jack locked eyes with Coop for a second before he looked back at the chair he had sat in earlier.

"Sit down, old man…" Cooper yawned.

"Old ma-"

"Hey! You're calling me kid." Coop raised an eyebrow, "If you keep on doing that, I'm gonna fight back…"

"I'm gonna let it slide this time…" Jack rolled his eyes and hopped over to his chair to sit back and down, "You know I'd slap you if you weren't this bad already…"

"Right…" Coop rolled his own eyes, wincing as it obviously didn't sit well with him.

"What? What happed?" Jack leaned forward, afraid that something was very wrong.

"Just that headache I mentioned… Didn't like me rolling my eyes…" Coop admitted as he brought his left hand up to cover his eyes to block out the light.

"That sucks…" Jack sighed.

"Yeah…" Coop agreed.

The nurse nodded and looked back down at Cooper, "Now, maybe I should wrap that hand of yours back up again. Then you can have some breakfast and relax for a while."

"Yeah…" Coop nodded, "But I don't think I want anything to eat. Don't think I'll be able to keep it down for long if I do anyway…"

"Okay, but what if bring some food for you anyway. And you can see if you're able to have some of it…" the nurse offered, as she picked up one of the bandages from the trolley.

"Okay, not promising that I'll eat it though…" Coop shrugged as he kept his eyes on her hands as she took the bandage out of the wrap it came in.

"That's okay…" she nodded, "Now, can you lift your arm up so this becomes easier for the both of us?"

 **Okay, another chapter down. Hope you enjoyed it…**


	30. Chapter 30

**Okay. So It's been a few days. Hope you don't mind.**

 **Let's get on with this thing.**

He had gotten worse during the day, and by the evening he had decided that it was best for all of them if the rest of the team went back to base and got some sleep in some proper bunks.

He himself was most tempted to curl up on his side and lay there in a hope that his stomach would stop the uproar to what they were giving him, and that his head would stop feeling like someone was working inside it with a sledgehammer. It wasn't fair to get a hangover without doing something to deserve it.

But he couldn't curl up like that, his hand wouldn't like that. Okay, maybe if he got a mountain of pillows to prop his arm up on. But he didn't really see a reason to ask.

He groaned, how could everything hurt so much at once? Which idiot had been around to allow that?

He brought his left hand up to pull on the drenched fabric of whatever hospital garment they had managed to put on him.

He twisted a little, hoping that it would help a little with either the nausea, the stomachaches and cramping or the soreness everywhere.  
It didn't.

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Misery. Misery was what he was experiencing. He couldn't think of a word to better describe it. Misery.

If he could just pass out and wake up when he was all better, that would have been great. But semi-consciousness wouldn't let go of him. He was too chewed up and spit out to do anything, and he was almost grateful that he had kicked his visitors out earlier, he wouldn't have been able to carry a conversation even.  
But he wasn't so out of it he didn't experience all of the misery.

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The next couple of days passed in a blur of pains, aches, sweat and vomit. And it was first on the 7th or 8th day of being there he started feeling sorta alright again. At least well enough to trust himself to eat and drink a little bit.

There wasn't much he really remembered about those few days, but he was almost certain that Pete and Jack had come to visit him, even though he had asked them all to give him some space until he wasn't coughing up chunks anymore.

On the plus side though, once the mess of side effect aches and pains cleared up a little, his hand felt a little better too. Not good in any way, not like he would try to move it as long as he didn't have to, but it didn't _hurt_ to have it attached to his arm anymore. And that was something, at least.

 **MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL**

Theo Stevens looked over to his right. The guy beside him looked a lot better now than the last couple of days, and Theo didn't really know how the guy had been doing before that.

Theo watched as the guy, for once, accepted the lunch the nurses were bringing out for them. He hadn't seen the guy eat solids yet, he had only seen him sip a little water and that electrolyte drink or whatever it was.

But then again, if it had been him throwing up like that, Theo wouldn't have been all that keen on eating anything either.

He watched as the guy, took a single bite of the food and placed the plate on the nightstand for later.

"So… Feeling a bit better today?" he asked looking over at the blond.

"Huh?" the blond looked over at him, still chewing the food. He then swallowed and nodded gently, "Yeah, a bit…"

"That's good…" Theo smiled.

The blond nodded.

"I'm Theo by the way, we've been neighbors for a little while now. Haven't really had the chance to say hello yet…" he said as he waved at the blond, "You've been a little out of it since I woke up…"

"Yeah…" the blond nodded, "I'm Cooper, but you can call me Coop…"

"Okay, Coop…" Theo nodded, "So, have you been here long? I woke up two days ago, and you've been…"

"Puking my guts out? Yeah…" Cooper nodded, "Think I've been here a week now. Give or take a day."

"They say I've been here nine days now…" Theo nodded, "It's a boring place…"

Coop nodded, and tilted his head to look over towards Theo, "Nine days, what brings you here?"

"Well… The hospitality…" Theo winked.

"Yeah, it's some great staff here…" Coop agreed, "But…?"

"But you wanna know what injury that sent me here for nine days already…"

"Yeah…" the blond nodded.

"Let's just say I'm gonna be mad at my buddies if they don't make AT LEAST one Lieutenant Dan joke…"

"Lieutenant Dan? Like Forest Gump?"

"Yeah…" Theo nodded, "Stepped on a mine…"

"Whoa…" Cooper's eyes opened wide, "Shit man… How are you not freaked out right now?"

Theo shrugged, "Freaked out a lot the last two days… Think I'm all freaked out by now. Or, you know… Just give it a couple of minutes and I'll probably freak out again soon… And you? I've seen you've got a boxing glove on your right hand? What happened?"

"Got in a fight with a winch. Think it won…" Cooper sighed, "Broke a couple of bones in my hand and got a nasty cut, which got an even nastier infection."

"Yeah, looks like the winch won." Theo agreed, "Unless you drove over it with a tank afterwards…"

"Nah…" Coop smirked, "It was high up in some mountainside… Couldn't get a tank up there. And I actually don't think an M67 would do the trick either…"

"Maybe a mortar?"

"Maybe…" Coop smirked, "We didn't bring that…"

"So… The guys who have visited you…" Theo started, "Didn't really strike me as the regular soldier type…"

"Yeah…"

"Well you're obviously now SEALs, I mean, look at you…"

"Great… I'm bed neighbor with a frogman…" Coop rolled his eyes dramatically, surprised that it didn't hurt.

"Yeah… Well…" Theo shrugged, "I think I'm retired now… I don't think they want me with a sign that says 'some assembly required'…"

"How are you joking like that already?"

Theo shrugged, "Beats crying. Don't tell anyone this, but at one point yesterday I almost thought they would have to put me on a saline drip if I cried one tear more…"

Cooper chuckled, "Hey, most of us would reach that point. Even us way tougher Delta's…"

"Bitch please…" Theo rolled his eyes, "I don't think you're allowed to claim you're any tougher than us the way you've been laying around moaning and groaning…"

Cooper chuckled lightly, "Yeah… Well… I'm pretty sure that was because my body thought either the pain meds or the antibiotics were some kind of hardcore cleanse. Haven't felt so sick, ever."

"-Or since the last kegger you were at?" Theo teased.

"Nah… I can handle alcohol." Coop shrugged, "But I'll admit that I might be a bit lightweight when it comes to pain meds."

Theo chuckled, "I knew you Delta's were lightweights…"

"Shut up…" Coop grinned, "And I'm pretty sure that's just me…"

Theo chuckled, then he nodded. "Could be, but I'm still not convinced about you Delta's though…"

"Whatever…" Coop let his head fall back against the pillow before he looked back over at Theo, "So… Does it hurt?"

"Yes and no…"

"You've got to explain that one to me…" Coop sighed, "I'm not following…"

"My left leg, or what used to be my left leg at least, hurts like you wouldn't believe…"

"Aha…" Coop nodded.

"My right… I can't feel that there's anything wrong with it at all, unless I try to shift around. It's weird as hell…"

"I imagine…" Cooper nodded. "Having one side hurt like crazy and the other side feeling perfectly normal, when both are equally fucked up…"

"Yeah…" Theo nodded, "It's messing with my mind."

Coop nodded, then he let out a longwinded sigh. "You know what I had not worried about before right now?"

"No…"

"My mom is going to find out what happened. And she'll be so upset thinking that I'm easily in the top three of the klutziest people on this earth."

"It was a winch that did it, right?"

"Yeah…"

"She'd be right… You have to be top three, easy."

"Not helping dude…"

"Not trying to either…" Theo winked back.

 **Okay, so… Hope you're having a great day. And a great week. (I know I am having a FREAKING FANTASTIC WEEK! WOHOO! *happy dance*)**

 **And, like you probably noticed, I added a bit of a time jump there. Hope you don't mind.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Okay, next chapter! (insert Taylor Swift 'the story of us' melody here…)**

 **Hey, don't we need a bit of Coop's nurse right about now? Huh? What do you say? Excited? Yeah? Yeah? Okay!**

Allie stopped as she entered the mess hall. She looked around the place until she laid eyes on the crew she was looking for.

Then she went on to grab some lunch from what was set out for them. A piece of bread and some so-called scrambled eggs.

Then she headed towards the group.

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"Hey, got an empty seat here?" she asked, feeling her heart beat in her throat.

"Yeah, of course… Sit down!" one of the two oldest, the one who was currently hopping around on crutches, smiled and gestured to one of the empty spaces. The others just nodded.

She sat down beside the guy she knew was called Duncan, smiled politely at him before she picked up the piece of bread on her plate. Tore off a smaller piece and put it in her mouth. She used her fork and stabbed some of the scrambled eggs lumps, spent a few seconds chewing it before she looked over at the others she shared table with.

"So…" she started hesitantly, still feeling her pulse drumming in her throat, "Do you guys know how Cooper is doing?"

Duncan looked over at Jack, barely able to contain a grin that for sure would have stated something like 'they're hot for each other'. "Yeah, he's been a little ill the last couple of days. Didn't really want visitors for a few days. But Boss over there called over to the hospital right before lunch. He felt a bit better today, right?"

"Yeah, he felt up for visitors when I had the nurse ask him…" Jack nodded.

"Do…" she swallowed and started the sentence again, "Do you think it would be alright if I joined you if you're going?"

Without any kind of hesitation, the men answered all at the same time, and all with the same word, "Sure!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Coop would like that…" Duncan smiled.

"You think?" Allie bit down on her lower lip as she asked nervously.

"Yeah. We're sure." Boxer nodded, "He'd love it. Duncan and I are heading over now straight after lunch. You can tag along then if you'd like, or you can tag along with Pete and Wyatt when they get done with whatever it is they have to do here at base…"

"Okay, I'd really like to tag along with the two of you that go there first…"

"Great!" Boxer smiled.

"Coop's not gonna understand anything when we get there, with you." Duncan smirked, before he quickly added, "But he sure will appreciate it."

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It was about an hour later, and they had made it to the hospital. The guys, Boxer and Duncan had told her to just head up to hall this and that while they tried to figure out what had caused the jeep to overheat right as they made it to the place they parked.

 _'It might take a little while…'_ was what they had told her.

She had seen straight through their little ploy though. The Jeep had not overheated, but she guessed she'd let them act like it had.

She headed up to the floor they had said Coop was on, and then she asked someone who worked there to help her find the right room.

As soon as she had the right common room, she stepped in and looked for bed number 12.

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Theo saw a woman come up to Cooper's bed in the corner of his vision. Coop did not notice it straight away, because he was too busy explaining what he liked most about his hometown. They had figured out they were both from Northern California, and had spent a good 20 minutes debating whether Klamath or Adin was the best place to grow up.

"Hey…"

Theo got to watch as Cooper turned his head to face the woman, and his face broke into a honest smile.

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"Allie!" Cooper's voice had changed a little, from being deliberate and measured when they discussed their hometowns with a great sense of importance, to a surprised and through-and-through happy tone greeting the redhead standing at the end of his bed. "How? What? How did you get here?"

"Hitchhiked with Duncan and Boxer…" she shrugged, "They are still down with the Jeep, they're having some 'car problems'…"

She made sure to emphasize the issue, letting Coop know that there weren't any REAL car problems.

"So, who was driving? How traumatized did you get?"

"Duncan, he drives like an angel."

"Nah-uh…" Coop laughed, "You start praying when Dunc drives… Box is not much better though…"

"Well, maybe that's because of the situations around the car? I mean, I'm pretty sure I can imagine just about anyone driving like a bat out of hell in given situations…"

"True…" Coop nodded with a smirk, "Guess they can behave behind the wheel as long as there's not mortars or stuff aimed at the vehicle…"

"How are you feeling?" Allie asked as she leaned on the footboard, "Heard you hadn't been doing too good the last couple of days…"

"I'm feeling a lot better…" Okay _a lot_ might have been a lie, but he felt a bit better. And seeing Allie was just so nice. "Yeah, had a few days where I didn't feel all that great. But I think the worst has passed. Managed to eat something last evening, ate breakfast today without any problems."

"Ate? You call that eating? You were picking at your food." Theo shot in.

"Okay… I might not have the _best_ appetite yet…" Coop shrugged a little, "But it's a lot better than the days before that…"

"And you've made friends…?" Allie grinned.

"Let's say frenemies for now…" Theo joked, "See, Blondie over there can't get it into his thick skull that Adin, and Modoc County, is way better than Klamath and Del Norte…"

"Yeah? For the what, 12 people who actually live in Adin?" Cooper shot back, then he looked over at Allie again, "Don't mind him, he chose the wrong branch way back when. Poor sucker ended up in the Navy…"

"I bet the two of you give the nurses here enough to worry about…" Allie chuckled.

"Nah…" Cooper shook his head, "We're behaving…"

"Sure about that?" she chuckled.

"Yeah…" Coop nodded, then he looked around for a chair or something. When he didn't find any within his line of sight, he shifted his legs and pointed to the end of his bed, "Hey, why don't you sit down? Before they like sense you're a nurse and try to get you to work here too…"

Allie laughed, and crawled up on the edge of Cooper's hospital bed.

"So… You're like a couple or something?" Theo asked gesturing between Allie and Coop. Grinning as they both suddenly looked like a couple of deer caught in the headlights. "-Or maybe not yet…"

"No… -No, we're not…" Coop let out a nervous chuckle.

Allie didn't miss the soft expression in Coop's eyes as he glanced up at her. She could feel how her cheeks had gone red from Theo's question, and if her heart hadn't given up and melted already, it certainly did when she saw that Coop's cheeks had also gone a shade or two rosier.

 **Okay, that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed this little chapter. I know it's not much, I couldn't make too much out of it. But I also wanted to put this out there…**


	32. Chapter 32

**Hello darlings!**

"You think he's had enough time now?"

"To what?"

"You know…" Duncan smirked, "Get that little nurse interested in him…"

"Think she already was Dunc…" Boxer grinned as he leaned back and put more weight on his arms.

Duncan let his legs dangle a bit where he sat on the hood of the Jeep, "True…"

Boxer looked over to study Dunc's face a little better, "But?"

"But I don't think she'd say yes if he proposed yet…"

"What? I didn't think Coop was THAT into her…" Boxer sat straight up again, looking at Dunc. "It's waaaay too early anyway…"

"I don't know that he is either…" Duncan shrugged, "But it would be nice, huh? Our guy finding someone to marry in a couple of years. Ending up with a few babies down the line?"

"I don't think that's gonna happen…"

"Why? It could…"

Boxer shrugged, "It could… But you know just as well as me, that our Californian friend will be more hung up in getting back on the team than he'll be trying to get to the end game with a girl…"

"Yeah…" Duncan admitted, "But it would be nice though…"

"We've pretty much all been through this before…" Boxer rolled his eyes, "This job and relationships… Doesn't work…"

"Pete…"

"That's new… It probably won't last long into our next tour…" Boxer drawled, "Look, you're still young, but I've seen this all before…"

"Coop could…"

"I think Coop knows enough about all of this not to let things get too serious…"

"Why?"

"Well…" Coop shrugged, "Y'all witnessed Jack's last relationship…"

"Yeah, that ended in a mess…"

Boxer nodded, "But… Coop's also been there for a couple of Charlie's… -I think Coop knows not to get into some love trouble…"

"Love trouble?"

"That's all it ever is…" Box shrugged, "It might be fun and great for a while, but sooner or later she'll start being pissed that you're not home more than a few months at a time, and then you spend way more time on the other side of the earth getting shot after… Trust me, way easier staying away from that mess…"

"You're too negative, you know that?"

"Might be… But it's way easier on the heart in the long run…"

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"So… You're staying here a few more days, is that right?" Allie asked after a while, she had gotten herself into a better position by the foot end of his bed.

"Yeah, still got a few more days of that hideous liquid that makes my mouth taste like some kind of nastiness…" Cooper shrugged as he looked over at Theo, "Think it's the same stuff they're pumping into him right now. Just look at the way he's drinking coffee…"

"Yeah, they're feeding me with penicillin or whatever right now. Makes my mouth taste like earwax or something…"

"Hadn't placed the taste yet, but yeah… Could totally be earwax…" Coop nodded with a frown, then when he saw Allie's confused and slightly disgusted expression he shrugged, "Hey… We've all been kids… And I'm pretty sure I'll remember the taste of weird stuff I had in my mouth as a kid for a long time. Take play-dough for example…"

She chuckled, "Okay, fair… I guess…"

"Tastes bad anyway…" Coop added.

"I can imagine…" Allie smirked and placed a hand on one of Coop's legs.

Then Coop let out a long sigh, looking at his bandaged arm, "It sure is going to be nice to get out of here though. And hopefully feel close to normal again…"

"Yeah, close to normal would be great right about now…" Theo shot in, "But I'd settle for a little less pain. And none of this IV-taste."

"Yeah…" Cooper nodded, "Would be great if it didn't feel like my body didn't feel weak as heck too… I mean… I think, _think_ , I would manage to walk down to the elevator or to the stairs, but I'm not certain…"

"Well… I wouldn't…" Theo added.

"Think your reason is a little better than mine…" Coop shrugged.

"Yeah… I think so too…" Theo grinned, "But I definitely could've made it to the elevator if someone helped me into a wheelchair."

"I wouldn't have made it in a wheelchair, on my own, either…" Coop started, then he paused, "Or wait, I could have… But it would look weird."

"Use your legs and your good arm to pull and push the chair forward?" Allie asked.

"Yeah, I would have to do something like that…" Coop nodded, "But I would have to take breaks, because my energy level is rock bottom right now…"

"Seems better than yesterday though…" Theo shrugged, "And way better than the day before that…"

"Yeah…" Coop nodded, "And I'll probably be a whole lot better tomorrow too…"

"Probably…" Theo nodded, "I'm just glad I haven't reached the level of crappy you dove into, I mean… All this thing is giving me is a little upset stomach and a horrible taste in my mouth. While you…"

"Yeah… I know. We don't need to discuss that in front of the nice lady." Coop blushed.

"The nice lady is a nurse…" Allie chuckled and rubbed her hand up and down the front of Coop's left leg, "And she's seen people getting knocked on their asses from meds before…"

"Okay, but can we spare _me_ from talking about all of that in front of you?" Coop scrounged up his nose, "I'm trying to make good impressions here…"

"You've already done that. What is it up to now? About 200 offers of helping me out with just about anything?"

"Nah… I don't think it's that many…" Cooper smiled, "But it was working?"

"It was working?" Allie chuckled, "I'm here, right?"

"Yeah…" Cooper tilted his head from side to side, "That's true… But I don't think I'll be offering to carry any of your stuff for a while…"

"That's alright…" Allie winked, "I might not be all that tall, but I'm strong enough to not _need_ help carrying anything that's meant to be carried by one person…"

"Yeah, I know…" Coop smiled.

"Aw, he'll be back to carrying your books in no time…" Theo teased, "Don't worry about that…"

"Well, I think I'm being shipped home for a while. And there's no answering where I'll be deployed next time around…" Coop's eyebrows creased together, "Or if you'll be there…"

"True…" Allie nodded, "And you're a Cali boy and I grew up on red clay in Georgia… Even if we're home, we're still half a world away from each other…"

"Hey, you can both take that negativity or whatever it is and toss it out that window right there…" Theo snapped his fingers and pointed towards one of the windows that was partially open, "I don't allow you two to end this thing before it even starts, alright?"

Letting out a laugh, Allie blushed, "You don't allow us?"

"No…" Theo shook his head, before he winked, "I need a little positivity in my life right now. And it would be great if it was you two…"

"I'm not sure about you Allie, but I feel like this is bordering on blackmail…"

"Blackmail? What are you talking about Coop?" Theo chuckled.

"Oh, I don't know…" Coop shrugged, "I just have this feeling you're going to hit us with something if we don't agree with you?"

"What? Like playing the amputee card?" Theo chuckled, "I totally would, by the way…"

"I was thinking more about threatening to tell how weak I must've seemed the last few days…"

"Nah, that could work the wrong way." Theo smirked, "I mean, I don't think that would help selling you to her…"

"Oh, don't worry about that…" Allie smiled, "I mean, have you seen that smile of his? I didn't stand a chance the first time he showed it to me…"

"That guy?" Theo jerked his thumb towards Coop, "Coop, I think that girl needs glasses…"

"Oh, screw you…" Coop rolled his eyes, "At least I don't look like you."

"Ow, that stung coming from you…" Theo laughed, "You have seen a mirror, right?"

Coop nodded and chuckled, "Yeah, but it's been like two weeks or something so…"

"Yeah, I think it's been something like that for me too…" Theo laughed.

"I wonder if he nurses here regret placing the two of you beside each other…" Allie laughed.

"What? Why?" Theo smirked, "We're behaving like angels…"

"Only because neither of you can be considered free-range at the moment…" Allie chuckled, "Can't cause all too much trouble from those beds…"

Both Cooper and Theo shrugged and offered a nod each.

"Yeah, there's probably a lot of truth in those words…" Theo chuckled.

"Definitely…" Coop smirked.

 **Okay. If I am to post anything today, I'll have to cut this off here.  
Hope you're having a great day! **


	33. Chapter 33

**Okay. Sorry… Just fell off the face of the earth there for a little while. Don't really have any good reasons either…**

It was a few hours later, and Jack, Pete, Duncan and Boxer had joined Allie, Cooper and Theo.

They were all seated in the same old chairs as they had used the last times they had been over, except for Allie, who was in the foot-end of Coop's bed.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Pete felt a slight pang of envy as he watched Allie's hand stroking mindlessly back and forth right above Coop's ankle. Luckily it wasn't all that long until he could be back with his Becky.

It was almost hypnotizing. Her dainty little hand against the thin fabric that hid Cooper's pretty much giant legs.

He missed Becky. He had already been missing her a lot without these visual reminders in front of him.

He was starting to form a plan though. The next time he was home, he would scope for an engagement ring. He wasn't sure if he'd actually buy one, or propose this time around. It could be wise to wait until the next time thereafter to actually pop the question.

He knew it probably was a little weird. Boys usually dreamt about being firemen, soldiers, policemen, football stars, stuff like that. It hadn't really been the case for him, but there had been one thing he'd always known he wanted, he wanted to grow up to be a husband (and a dad).  
He had just never really met _the one_ before, and he had started to doubt that she really existed. That was until he met Becky. A week after meeting her and as soon as they went on their first date, he just KNEW.

He started getting self-conscious about the time he had spent staring at Allie's hand over the form of Coop's leg, and forced himself to look somewhere else, find some other thoughts to entertain himself with.

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The touch of her hand against his shin was comforting. It was almost like when you were a kid and scraped your knee and your mom ran her hand through your hair with some comforting words.

He looked at her and when their eyes met he pulled one corner of his lips up in an innocent smirk. She smiled back.

If he had felt a little better, he would probably have sat up and reached out for her. Maybe even tried to sneak in a hug, even in front of the guys. Or maybe that was just because of the drug cocktail he had in his system? Maybe that would have been inappropriate?

 _Whatever… He was too beat up to act on it anyway…_

 **MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL**

Oscar and Gregory were in front of the group, they were pushing and showing each other as they walked down the hallway.

Kyle was in the middle of the group, he was a lot calmer than the first two energy filled SEALs, maybe because he was nursing an injured shoulder. Nothing like what Theo had suffered, but enough to make him not want to bounce around like the two goons ahead of him.

Ben and Allan made up the tail end of the group. Allan was calm guy, who naturally liked conserving energy when he could. Ben on his hand was the oldest, and even though he hadn't really grown out of his wild ways, he felt like the situation deserved a little more seriousness than the two first ones emitted.

"How do you think Theo's doing?"

"He had a leg blown clean off, and the other one is probably long gone by now too…" Ben shrugged back, "He's either depressed like I probably would have been…"

"Or… He's Theo…" Allan shrugged, "He could be laughing it up already."

"I highly doubt that…"

"Yeah. Me too…" Allan agreed, "I would have been a wreck."

Ben nodded solemnly.

"Hey…" Allan stopped in his tracks and forced Ben to do the same, "What do we do if he's… You know… Down?"

Ben shrugged.

"Because that is probably going to be more unsettling than seeing him without a leg, or like you're guessing, legs."

"There's no way his left leg survived that… Just no way…"

"But… What do we do?"

Ben shrugged again, "I don't know… We sit around, try to lighten his mood… We'll be there for him, finally."

"Finally…" Allan agreed, "Freaking mission."

"Yeah, you can say that again…" Ben nodded, "Kyle was lucky to just catch a little shrapnel…"

"Yeah, no need in telling me that." Allan almost rolled his eyes, "An inch or so down and I'm pretty sure it would have nicked an artery if my limited knowledge of this stuff is correct."

"Your _limited_ knowledge?" Ben chuckled, "Best damn corpsman I've ever had on my team, that's what you are son…"

 **Okay… I'm off to workout… Hope you enjoyed, and that you're not mad about the hiatus I suddenly placed on this fic. (-It'll probably happen again in the future.)**

 **And yeah… You got a mini introduction to Theo's team.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Okay… Let's see if we can get this thing to roll again.**

"Okay, guys I've got an idea that I want you to listen to…" Cooper started, "Even though he's ugly as a mutt and stupid enough to pick the wrong branch… What do you say we skip calling Theo here a 'Wimpy water baby'? I mean… 'Water baby' sure… But don't think 'wimpy' is right…"

"But 'wimpy water baby' isn't the same without wimpy…" Pete chuckled in a tone that revealed that he agreed with Cooper even though his words didn't say so.

"Yeah, but we could give him a pass on that too…" Jack winked.

"Exactly…" Cooper nodded, "Because I think if anyone's been wimpy here for the last couple of days, it's definitely been me… And I still have all my parts."

"Hey… Don't feel bad about it…" Theo chuckled, "We've always had a theory about you Delta's just calling us that to build up around your own fragile egos…"

"Oh, our ego's aren't fragile…" Boxer chuckled, then he patted Jack's cast which was placed on top of his lap once again, "Especially this guy's… If his ego is anything, it's swollen."

"Hey!" Jack swatted after Boxer, "My ego is just fine!"

"Yeah. We know." Duncan rolled his eyes, "But it's swollen too…"

They all quieted down when they heard determined footfalls come towards them. And soon enough five guys came into view.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"Theo! My man!" the first one to reach Theo's bed grinned and fist-bumped him, "Dang, it's good to finally see you again. You scared the living crap out of us. How are you holding up?"

"Oh, you know Oscar…" Theo shrugged, "Been better… I mean… You're all going to beat me in leg exercises from now on…"

The SEAL guys all greeted Theo similarly, one by one.

"Damn son… You're a sight for sore eyes…" Ben smiled as he finally made it over to Theo.

"Good to see all of you too…" Theo nodded, then he looked at Kyle, "How's the shoulder? Didn't you get hit by some of what I stepped on?"

"Meh… It's fine, a little sore and stiff, but fully operational." Kyle answered and moved his arm and shoulder to prove it to Theo, "Only needed Allan to pick the damn piece of mine out of my shoulder and stitch it up. Managed to finish the mission."

"That's great." Theo nodded, "It was a success?"

"We finished it." Ben nodded, "I won't call it a success since you're in that bed…"

"Hey, still alive. That's the important part, right?"

"I guess…" Ben nodded, "But it would have been better for all of us if you weren't injured like this."

"What? Okay, maybe it would have been a little better. A little less pain, and I wouldn't have to find something else to do…" Theo masked the sigh that left his lips with clearing his throat right after, "But I'd rather live the rest of my life without my legs than to have my life end because of where I placed my feet in this godforsaken desert."

"Yeah, you've got a point there…" Allan nodded.

"I would have a rough time facing that I would be linked to a wheelchair…" Gregory admitted.

"Who says anything about being linked to a wheelchair? I'm going to get myself a couple of bulletproof legs and I am going to walk again." Theo said without doubt in his voice, "Just have to let the… The stumps…"

He fell silent and his right hand went up to press against his lips as if he was only now taking it all in for the first time.

"Just gonna have to let the stumps…?"

Theo was able to shake out of it and recover quickly, "Just gonna have to let them heal up a bit first. Just have to heal enough to be able to use prosthetics first."

Ben nodded, and looked over at the other gang, "So? Associating with the enemy? It smells Delta a long way over there…"

"How did he know?" Pete whispered to Duncan.

"Ben…" Boxer leaned back in his chair and looked up at the other team's leader, "Still sore about losing that fight about a decade ago?"

"We only lost because you and the one with fiberglass guarding his leg cheated."

"There were no rules. How could we possibly cheat?" Jack grinned, "You lost, that's all…"

"You and your misfits pulled all kinds of dirty tricks…"

"Yeah, well… None that went against the rules of war…" Boxer shrugged innocently.

"I'm surprised to see you two are still in the game by the way… Haven't found suitable rocking chairs yet?" Ben shot back.

"Nah… I'm almost thinking about making a career out of this…" Jack shrugged, "What about you Box? Keep on until we retire?"

"Yeah, sounds good…" Box grinned back.

"See guys? They're not even smart enough to realize that I hinted that they should have retired, years ago…" Ben winked and elbowed Gregory who was closest to him.

"Oh, naw… We got that part…" Boxer shook his head, "Just decided to ignore it. Haven't thought of retiring you?"

"Me? I'm younger than you two baboons…" Ben smirked, "And it looks like ol' Jack's suffering from brittle bones too…"

"Nah…" Box shook his head, "He just caught a slug. Wouldn't call him brittle for that."

"Okay, fair…" Ben nodded, "So, how is it being two old dudes with all those young ones on your team?"

"You should know…" Jack chuckled, then pointed to Kyle and continued, "I think I've seen that one before, but I'm not sure he even needed a razor last time I saw him. Rest of your guys are new to me…"

"Yeah, well… It's a young man's game…" Ben sighed, then nodded in Coop's direction, "But if I didn't know better, I'd say one of yours have found the fountain of youth…"

"No, but it's his younger brother." Boxer answered in a hollow voice, in a hope that it would refrain Ben from continuing on that path.

"Oh, sorry. Copy that." Ben nodded, shifting uncomfortably.

"Say, where did you Delta's find those chairs?" Oscar asked.

"The guys raided the floor for 'em…" Jack shrugged, "But you could check on the floor either below or above…"

"Oscar, Greg, Allan… Would you guys mind trying to find some chairs for the rest of us?"

"Of course not…" Gregory shook his head, "Let's go."

 **Okay. That's it for today. Hope you enjoyed!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Hello darlings… Hope you're having a great day! Today's chapter is written during the down-times at job. Because all my colleagues are able to talk about today is the soccer game coming this weekend. And I'm not interested in soccer…**

The rest of the SEAL team made it back with a bunch of chairs. And arranged themselves around Theo similarly to the way the Delta's were seated around Coop.

Ben had deliberately seated himself near Jack and Boxer, just to keep the insults and banter going every now and then.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Both crews had fallen silent a little while ago, and Cooper just knew that someone was bound to start teasing the other team soon enough.

He was not mistaken, because Ben leaned over and jabbed Box in the shoulder. A mischievous grin spread across his face.

"Hey… Even though I already know the truth, I'd like to settle it once and for all… What do you say we have a little competition?"

"Competition sounds good…" Jack nodded, "What do you suppose we try?"

"I'd like to say a race, but I think that would be wrong of me, given YOUR condition…" Ben shifted his gaze to Jack.

"Hey, our teams could still have a race… We just pick one from each team…" Jack shrugged, "Afterwards we could check who jumps the furthest too…"

"Okay." Ben nodded, "Same contender or different one?"

"Different, unless you want the same guy who ran to jump too…" Jack said, tilting his head side to side.

"Sounds good…" Ben looked over his team, "Which of your guys do you choose?"

"For the running?"

"Yeah…"

"Think I'm gonna have to go with Dunc there…" Jack looked over at Duncan as if he asked if he'd be willing to do that. Duncan nodded. "And you? Which one from your team?"

"Oscar? Ready to beat that Delta?"

"Born ready, sir." Oscar winked back.

"Oh, this is gonna be good…" Greg grinned, "So, what's the rules?"

All the Delta's eyes fell on Allie.

"Okay, here's an idea…" Boxer started, "We could send Allie down to the entrance with two items, one for our team and one for yours… Dunc and Oscar have to race down, get their item and race back up here."

"Sounds good…" Ben nodded, looking over at Oscar once again, "How about other rules? Are there any no-no's? Like, taking the elevator? Or fighting a little bit?"

"No. Take the elevator if you'd like… You're probably losing time on it anyway…" Jack shrugged "And a little fighting must be allowed, just don't do anything the staff here needs to clean or fix up afterwards…"

"So we have to pull our punches and wear our gloves?" Oscar scrounged up his nose

"Yeah…" Ben nodded, Jack did too.

"Okay…"

"Hey… First you've gotta catch me…" Duncan winked, "Then you can think about not punching me full force…"

Oscar rolled his eyes a little, "Just try to outrun me… I doubt you can…"

"Oh, we'll see…" Duncan chuckled.

"Okay… So what items?" Boxer asked Jack, "Must be something that can't easily be duplicated…"

"Yeah…" Jack agreed, "But what?"

"Maybe I can get some paper cups, and write something on the bottom of them?" Allie suggested, "Without letting you know what I wrote, and then I can confirm what I wrote when I get back up here…"

"Yeah. That'd work." Ben nodded.

"Or, you know…" Coop shrugged, "Allie could just confirm that both teams were down there… Isn't that easier, I mean… She'll notice if one of them don't show up…"

"True…" Pete nodded, "You're really not as dumb as you look…"

"Told ya…" Coop grinned.

"Yeah, but I think she's cheering on your team…" Greg noted, "She could just _say_ that the Delta's made it down there… I'd be much happier if they both had to bring something to prove it."

"I get your concern, but won't it be just as easy for her to lie about what was written under the cup?" Oscar raised his eyebrows towards Greg, "If she's already 'bought' by them…?"

"You guys haven't seen Dunc's chicken-scratches?" Pete darted in, "There's no way it would pass for Allie's handwriting."

"Are you sure? Have you seen my handwriting?" Allie teased.

"No, but purely stereotypical here… You're a girl, chances are your handwriting is better than Dunc's either way…"

"Chances are her handwriting is better than all of ours…" Dunc added, "Well, maybe except for the elderly Texans… With their slanting italic style writing."

"Hey! Watch it!" Box pointed a menacing finger towards him, "The 'elderly Texans' could easily hook you up with latrine duty…"

"Very easily…" Jack added with a smirk.

"Better behave kid…" Ben grinned in Dunc's direction, "Or the two grandpa's will punish you…"

"Are you requesting a hand to hand competition between the two of us too?" Boxer asked waving his finger between Ben and himself to indicate who he was referring to.

"Oh, we sure could go for a round…" Ben nodded, "Given how much you guys cheated last time, I'd be glad to kick your ass now. I'm not promising you'll be able to walk for a week or two afterwards though…"

"Oh, don't worry 'bout me…" Box let out a hearty laugh, "I'll be too busy bustin' your ass…"

"Hey-hey-hey…" Allan leaned forward and blocked both Box and Ben's eye connection, "At least wait until after the race with going head to head."

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After acquiring a couple of paper cups and a pen, Allie had made marking on both of them.

"Okay, give me five minutes to get down there…" she requested, "And may the better team win…"

"Oh, we will…" Duncan grinned.

"You will lose…" Oscar corrected.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Jack kept an eye on his watch until five minutes had passed. "Alright, she's had five minutes. Who wants to send them off?"

There was a few seconds filled with only silence.

"I can…" Pete offered after no one spoke up.

"Okay. Go ahead!" Ben nodded.

Pete nodded and stood up, walked in front of the two racers. Donned a teasing smile and held his arms above his head in the same way as a flag girl ready to send off drag racers.

"Ready? Set. GO!" He threw his arms down, and the two racers spun off.

 **Okay. That's it for today. I'm not a master of long chapters. I wish I was… But… It just doesn't work for me.**


	36. Chapter 36

**Okay, we're here again. Hope you're having a great day!**

Duncan was a two steps ahead of Oscar when they crossed the first doorsill. That didn't last too long though, because as soon as they were out of eyesight from their spectators, a hand wrapped into the collar of his shirt and he was yanked forcefully backwards.

With a shocked 'OOMPH' he regained his footing and decided that if the water creature played it dirty, he could very well play it dirty too.

He reached the stairs about half a floor after Oscar.

There was only one thing to do.  
-Take shortcuts.

He took two steps down the stairs, grabbed the railing, jumped over it and landed just behind the SEAL. He repeated the steps and went past Oscar.

He heard something cussed out behind him as he continued to take the stairs half a floor at a time. It sounded like something like 'Damn unit monkey! Jumping around like some crazy idiot!'

Duncan grinned as he realized he was getting a solid lead.

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Oscar was about ready to admit that he might lose when he watched Duncan crash into a trolley, tipping both it and himself over in the process. Okay, he still had a fair chance.

He passed the Delta and let out a triumphant laugh, laughing even louder when he heard the delta first excuse himself to the person who had wheeled the trolley, before he spit out an insult towards Oscar.

He sprinted all his legs would carry him. He wanted to put as much distance between him and Duncan as possible. He wanted to win, and he wanted to win by a great amount too.

He failed to notice the 'wet floor' sign. He wouldn't have to be fluent in the language to know what the yellow sign meant, if he had only seen it.

He slipped and skidded on his back, angrily watching as Duncan skidded past him still on his feet.

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He had hastily helped the orderly get the trolley back on its wheels before he took off again. He knew he had to push himself to close the gap that had formed between him and the SEAL.

He switched into the gear that Coop had labeled 'impossible to keep up with' and did his best.

It was like a gift from above when he saw the SEAL go down five feet past a yellow sign that informed everyone seeing it that the floor ahead would be wet, and slippery.

Dunc bet that his boots would be equally as slippery on the surface as the SEAL's had been, and pushed on the last few strides until where he saw the floor was wet.

Then he slid away on his feet, like in his childhood winter days back in Chicago. Whenever he or one of his buddies found a patch of ice they used it to slide on.

He whooped as he passed the SEAL, who looked like he was getting angrier. Not that Duncan cared, he was going to win this one.

He suddenly reached dry tiles and his arms flailed as he had to take two or three uncoordinated steps to keep from falling over. He regained his balance and picked up speed.

He saw a bed being rolled out of a room. It was empty. He ran a little faster to time a kong vault before the person rolling the bed came blocked him instead of the bed.

He launched himself forward, his hands connecting with the railing of the bed, he pushed off with his hands before he tucked his legs good, realized he wouldn't land it without a tuck and roll.

As he landed, rolled and continued running he heard a sharp, shocked gasp from the person rolling the bed. He tossed an excuse over his shoulder, but didn't stop.

Behind him he heard as Oscar had to make a full stop as he bed rolled by, he grinned.

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Allie grinned as she saw Duncan come into view first, she liked that _her team_ were in the lead. It was her team, Cooper was on it.

And then, 30 feet after Duncan, the SEAL guy came into view.

She handed the first cup to Duncan, and prepared to give the other one to the SEAL guy. That thought almost changed as she saw the SEAL guy extend his arm and Duncan running straight into it, effectively taking him down.

But to her surprise, Dunc must've expected something like that, because he managed to twist around mid-air and hook one of the SEAL's legs, taking him down as well.

Her guy quickly got to his feet by doing a kip-up, while the SEAL spent a little extra time getting his bearings and getting back up. By then Duncan had already rounded the corner once again and were off towards the finish line.

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"We are so going to win this…" Greg grinned, "You guys don't have a chance."

"Oh, dream on…" Coop flashed a smile as he looked over towards the SEALs, "Our guy is fast."

"Oscar had the company record for three years…" Greg shrugged.

"That's just because he didn't go up against any Delta's there…" Pete grinned wide, "Dunc's good…"

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Oscar managed to run fast enough to get eyes on Duncan before they reached the stairs again. But he had to admit, the heat and the damn obstacle course of a hospital was starting to get to him. Hopefully the same went for the other guy.

Once he dodged into the stairwell, he caught a glimpse of Duncan's foot just as the Delta was about to reach the platform above him. The other guy was in the lead by one floor.

He started rushing up the stairs, taking them two at a time. But he didn't close in on Duncan at all, if anything he was sagging behind.

He heard a door being thorn open, and instinctively knew that Duncan had made it to the floor they had started on. That was almost two floors up.

He cussed as he tried to push himself further, but there just wasn't more. Somehow it felt like the fall from when he tried to take Dunc down and Dunc had taken him down in return, had caused his muscles to start stiffening up. He was in lactic acid hell right now.

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Kyle stood up as he heard determined running footfalls come from the hallway outside the room. He needed to see who was in the lead. He surely hoped it would be Oscar. They couldn't lose to the damn Delta's. That would be a tough one to swallow.

He couldn't hide his disappointment as he saw the wrong guy sprinting down the hallway towards them.

He had abandoned all hope when the guy suddenly looked like he was struck by something and both him and an unopened packet of cast fell to the floor for a couple of confused seconds as Oscar came up from behind.

They were about side by side by the time Duncan had regained his footing.

It was going to be close. Real close.

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Duncan's shin impacted with something and he made a nosedive, tucking and rolling out of instinct. He wasn't sure of what he had run into before he heard the triumphant whoop coming from the SEALs. Oscar had probably managed to trip him with his own leg, while running.  
Dunc wasn't even mad, he was borderline impressed. If Oscar had managed that without taking a dive himself, he almost deserved winning.  
Almost.

But he needed for their team to get their revenge.

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The SEAL team wasn't all finished celebrating and gloating when Allie made it back up to them. She didn't bother to hide that she much rather would have liked to see the Delta's win, but she figured they always could beat the SEALs in some other competition. Running wasn't the only possible competition.

"I take it the Theo's team won…" she sighed as she stopped by the foot end of Coop's bed.

"Yup…" most of the Delta's answered in unison.

"Well, Dunc had a good lead when he retrieved the cup…"

"He had a good lead here too…" Jack shrugged, "But Oscar was like a damn sniper with a roll of cast, and then he tripped him right before the finish line…"

"Hey, we all agreed there weren't any rules…" Oscar grinned.

"Yeah, but in speed alone, I think Dunc might've won…" Cooper shrugged.

"You guys want a re-match?" Ben teased.

"No…" Duncan shook his head, "Maybe if someone else run, I'm pretty sure the nurses and Doctors, and especially the orderlies are going to start throwing stuff after me if I run that race again."

"Yeah, that's probably true…" Oscar nodded, "So? Anyone else up for a run?"

"You could pick something else to compete about…" Theo offered, "Standing jump or something…"

"Standing jump could be fun…" Allan shrugged, pretty much knowing that he would get picked to represent the SEALs if they decided on jumping.

"Yeah…" Pete agreed, "but our best jumper is sidelined…"

"You can't mean Jack is the best of you?"

"No… No he isn't…" Pete almost laughed, "The tall, blond Californian is…"

"Well… It's only his hand that's injured right? Don't need that to jump…" Ben shrugged.

"Ben. If I could, I WOULD kick you right now…" Theo scowled over at his leader, "That guy was closer to dying than I was, I think…"

"Really?"

Coop shrugged, "Caught some nasty infection… Still not sure if I'm ready for being completely vertical…"

"To put it like this, the nurses haven't even tried getting him to test the floor…" Theo cleared up, "He's not jumping, and you don't get to give him shit about it either."

"Making friends are we?" Ben smirked over at Theo, "With Delta's? I thought you at least had some standards."

"Well, except for being a Delta, and thinking that Klamath is better than Adin, he's alright…" Theo chuckled, "Not his fault he doesn't have the wits to choose SEAL over Delta…"

"Chose Delta because it's the best…" Coop chuckled, "It's you who has got that thing ass backwards…"

"Yeah? Right…" Theo chuckled, obviously not agreeing.

"So… Jumping? Is that going to happen or not?" Allan prompted.

"Oh, it's gonna happen…" Boxer nodded, "Anyone else volunteer? Or do I have to go ahead or take that challenge myself?"

"I can take this one too…" Duncan shrugged.

"Box is actually pretty good at jumping…" Jack shrugged.

"But if he volunteers, I'm pretty sure he could beat me…" Box shrugged, "Maybe even that SEAL could beat me… I mean, like these young ones often tries to point out to us, we're gettin' older…"

"You sure you want to jump too?"

"Hey, gotta get my revenge, right?"

"Okay." Jack nodded, "You're up!"

"Are we doing standing landings or not?" Kyle asked, looking at the older men.

"Dunno…" Boxer shrugged, "What do you guys think?"

Most of the men shrugged their shoulders.

"I've got a suggestion…" Oscar started, "How about we aim for a standing landing, but the ones jumping are allowed to touch their hands to the ground. Just not… Land on their asses."

Duncan shrugged, "Sounds good."

"Yeah…" Allan agreed.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Allan had been right, he ended up being chosen for the jump. They had agreed on five jumps each, and whoever had the longest jump would win.

They were on the 4th jump now, and he was currently leading by almost six inches. But he had a nagging suspicion that the Delta was only playing with him, that he was restraining himself.

He swung his arms and tried to imagine the place he wanted to land, a foot past the longest jump he had made yet. He knew he probably wouldn't manage that, but he did have a chance of eating a few more inches. As his arms pendulumed past his body the fourth time he gave it all he had. He managed to get another inch on the previous best jump. And yelled triumphantly as he stood back up from correcting his balance.

"Oooh… Scary…" the guy he was competing against joked, and Allan's feeling of being played with intensified, "I can't understand how anyone could possibly beat that…"

 _Yeah, that feeling was growing stronger._

"I'll just have to do my best…" Duncan smirked and offered a wink before he walked up to the seam they used to jump from.

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"Come on Dunc! You've got this!" Cooper cheered, "leave him in the dust!"

Duncan did the same as Allan had done, he swung his arms a couple of times, zeroed in on a spot he wanted to land on and once he was content with the timing of his movements he leaped.

He landed well, but had to put one hand down to avoid taking a nosedive. Once he stood back up, he provided the widest and cheesiest grin he could as he pointed to the pack of cigarettes that was the SEALs marker, it was a good five inches behind either of his heels.

"Does this mean I'm in the lead or nah?" He was really satisfied with the collective groan coming from the other team as Pete hurried to place Boxer's Zippo lighter as a marker for where Dunc had landed.

Duncan let out a short thriumphant laugh and clapped his hands together as he got out of the way for Allan's last try. The best part was that he knew he could jump at least a little further without too much hassle, he had tried jumping against Cooper for years now, always annoyed when the heavier, but admittedly taller and stronger, man won way too often.  
Boredom had to be killed any which way they could kill it after all.

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Allan couldn't believe it when he actually managed to pass Dunc's marker by half an inch. It wasn't much, but if the Delta didn't ace his last jump it would be enough to bring the win home to his SEAL team.

He threw a hand in the air, showing his excitement.

"Cheer all you want…" Duncan shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm pretty sure you just lost…"

Allan frowned as Duncan once again walked up to the seam in the floor. And then four seconds later jumped at least six inches past where their cigarette pack laid, with what looked like way too much ease.

"Yup…" Duncan nodded matter-of-factly, "You walruses lost."

"Did he just…"

"Let it go Greg… Let it go…" Kyle sighed as he placed one hand on Greg's shoulder to ground him and keep him from going after the Delta who obviously thought his job was being a comedian.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"Okay, what's next?" Ben huffed, "Next challenge, I really want to beat your asses again."

"Oh, you're gonna fail, bud…" Jack grinned, "Anyone got any ideas?"

"Handstands?" Pete suggested straight away.

"No… That's boring…" Boxer drawled, "But, we could check which of us can walk the furthest on our hands…"

"I really wouldn't advice you to do handstands, or walk on your hands in a hospital…" Allie shuddered with a disgusted frown, before she looked at Dunc and Allan, "And you two should probably go wash your hands…"

"Okay…" Jack shrugged, "First task, acquire a pair of gloves… Then we could have that upside-down race… What do you guys say?"

Ben looked at his guys, all of them giving small nods, before Ben answered for all of them. "Okay, sounds good. But how about we put a twist on this one…"

"How?"

"Two from each team. The one that makes it longest wins even if the other one on the team only made it three feet."

"Yeah. Sure…" Boxer nodded, "Pete, you in?"

"Hell yeah…" Pete grinned.

"So… Who's your other competitor?" Ben asked, looking over the opposing group.

"I am…" Boxer drawled like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Now you… Choose your guys…"

"Volunteers?" Ben turned and asked as soon as his surprised expression faded.

"Well, for once there's a thing that looks like it's safe to volunteer for…" Greg shrugged, "I'm in…"

"Yeah, me too…" Oscar nodded.

"Okay…" Ben nodded and turned towards the Delta's again, "Greg and Oscar. But you know you've got like, ten years, on the oldest one you're up against Tex?"

"Yeah." Box smirked.

 **Okay, that's today's chapter. Hope you're enjoying this…**


	37. Chapter 37

**Okay… Hope you're having fun… I am… So, let's see what we can do now.**

"Okay, getting some pairs of gloves was easier than I expected…" Boxer admitted, "Didn't even have to be sneaky about it…"

"Yeah… Might've been more fun if we actually had to do something more than just ask for them…" Pete nodded as he pulled on the first glove, "It's gonna be good to get another win over those SEALs…"

"Hey, you've got to win first before you get the bragging rights…" Ben grinned, "Besides, my boys are better…"

"We'll see about that…" Jack winked and stretched his arms.

"Too bad you can't compete today… With that leg of yours…" Ben raised his eyebrows in a cocky way, he probably planned to raise just one of them.

Jack pressed his tongue against his cheek, studying the cast on his left leg for a few seconds as he wiggled his toes. "I've got two things in mind that I possibly could do…"

"Oh yeah? What?" Ben asked as he folded what looked like strong arms over his chest.

"What Pete suggested earlier. Simple handstand contest." Jack shrugged, then he guided his leg down from the chair Boxer had been sitting on earlier, and got up and grabbed one of the spare pairs of what was either latex or nitrile gloves. "Think I could do this too…"

"YOU! SIT. DOWN. RIGHT. THIS. SECOND!" Boxer boomed as soon as he saw what Jack was doing and realized what kind of plans he had.

"Make me." Jack chuckled and hopped out onto the open floor, "You water babies want a 3rd contender or should one of these two resign…?"

Theo let out a laugh, "Ben, I think it's your turn…"

"Yeah, Chief…" Kyle grinned, "This totally has your name written all over it."

"He's just kidding…" Boxer growled as he pinned Jack with a glare that would make just about anyone else step down, "He's not doing this."

"I am." Jack shot back, leaving no room for discussion.

"You're in that mood, right?" Boxer sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "The stubborn as a damn mule mood…"

Jack shrugged with a grin, "I don't know about that. But I'm competing here."

Boxer pinned the bridge of his nose with a couple of fingers, clearly not liking Jack's determination.

"Let the gimp decide for himself if he wants to compete or not…" Ben chuckled, "I doubt it would be the first braindead decision of his life…"

"Okay-okay…" Boxer let out an exasperated sigh, "But we need one ground rule then…"

"Let's hear it…" Oscar shrugged.

"No one tries wrestling him off his hands. Okay?"

"Okay…" Greg nodded.

"Does that mean we can try to wrestle the other two of you off your hands?"

"Yeah." Boxer nodded.

"Well, in that case, we should have one that gets a wrestlepass too…"

"Okay. Pick one." Pete shrugged,

Oscar and Greg both pointed at Ben instantly.

"I want to try to kick one of those two off their hands…" Greg shrugged when he saw Ben's expression.

"Yeah, me too…" Oscar agreed, "Plus, I've never seen you walk on your hands…"

"Okay, fine… Suits me well…"

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"Okay, your goal is to get furthest." Allie explained, "The four of you get to pull every dirty trick you can think off, as long as it's not obvious that we'll need more beds here from what you're about to try and do…"

She gestured to Boxer, Pete, Oscar and Greg. They nodded.

"You are not allowed to push or shove Jack or Ben in any way, or do anything else to make them fell faster. Deal?"

All of the men on the floor nodded again.

"As a result of that, Jack and Ben… You're not allowed to push anyone else either…"

"Okay." Jack nodded, Ben did the same.

"Okay, starting line is behind that line of grey tiles, so walk or hop on over to that line…"

"Yes ma'am…" all of the competitors answered in unison.

"Oh, and one more thing!" she snapped her fingers to get their attention as they had already started moving towards the grey line of tiles, "Once you're no longer on your hands, you can't try to topple anyone."

"Once you're down, you're dead. Got it…" Ben nodded and looked at the two others from his team.

Jack and the other Delta's nodded.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Allie signaled that they could start, and the first four kicked up to their hands. The shoving and kicks started almost immediately. Boxer was the first one to take someone else out was Boxer who took out Greg.

"Aw, come on!" the SEAL cried out in frustration, "Old men should not manage stuff like that!"

His frustration probably didn't shrink when Box chuckled as he kept on marching on his hands.

Jack looked over at Ben, "Maybe we should get going too? The three still standing has got a couple of yards head start now."

The next person to go down was Pete, after a short upside down match with Oscar. He didn't collapse the same way as Greg had, but lost since he lost his balance and his feet came back down on the floor.

"And then they were two…" Ben chuckled, feeling more confident about their chances now that it wasn't a 2 on 1 situation out there any more.

"Yeah…" Jack nodded before he held his arms ready, "Come on…"

Ben nodded but let Jack kick up alone. Then once Jack was seven-eight feet away he did the same.

He went down immediately as soon as he tried to take the first 'step', much to the Delta's entertainment.

"Well… What can I say?" Ben sighed as he stood back up and brushed off his clothes, "Never really tried that before…"

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Oscar headed towards Boxer. The Delta was a few yards ahead of him, but that didn't really matter, this was a distance race –not a speed race.

He still hurried over though. The faster he got there, the less time he would have spent walking on his hands, the less tired he would be.

He made it up side by side with Boxer raced a step or two ahead of him and waited. As soon as he deemed Boxer's arm within reach of his own, he lifted his left arm and balanced on his right.

He had almost grabbed Boxer's right wrist when he realized the fault in his plan as what felt like an army boot connected with his thigh just hard enough to send him way off balance.

He tried regaining his balance, he really tried, but to no use. He ended up with his back to the floor.

"And the winning team of this event, is the Delta's!" Allie grinned and expected Jack and Boxer to kick back down to their feet, or foot.

But that didn't happen.

The two oldest Delta's kept on waggling towards the corridor.

"Uhm…" Cooper started before he cleared his throat to speak up, "Someone better go after them. Stop them before they reach some stairs or the elevator…"

"You're kidding." Duncan chuckled and turned to Coop, taking in the blond's serious expression before adding a slightly concerned "Right?"

Coop shook his head gently as he kept his eyes on the four legs looking like shark-fins sticking up in a sea of hospital beds, "Nah… I've heard stories…"

"You're kidding…" Pete frowned, but kept a sliver of hope in his voice.

"No…" Coop shook his head, a smile slowly creeping onto his lips, "I know it's hard to believe now, but they were once as young as us… -And according to Charlie, they were extremely competitive…"

There was a second where both the other Delta's looked a little dumb folded before either of them managed to react.

"You're saying Charlie, your brother Charlie…" Pete started with wide eyes, "The guy that once toppled a car with his bare hands because someone dared him to, and said that he probably couldn't do it… You're saying that guy called them extremely competitive?"

Cooper looked up, shrugging his left shoulder. "It's not that hard to flip a car on its side… You just need to get the rocking and timing right."

"Have you…?"

"When my Boxer revealed that Charlie had done that once, I had to try…" Cooper answered with a sheepish grin.

"When?"

"Back home right before we made the Unit… A few friends and I went to the junkyard… Figured someone would be pissed if we just found a random car to test it on, plus… Eric's dad owns the junkyard so…"

"You mean to say you flipped a car and didn't tell us?" Duncan's hands were flying around aimlessly as he didn't know how to process that information.

"Yeah…"

"Didn't happen…" Pete shook his head, "If I did something like that, I'd tell everyone I met."

"Next time you guys come visit California, I bet I could dig up the footage." Cooper chuckled, "Eric's dad had to film it."

"That's something I've gotta see…" Duncan chuckled, "A blond maniac flipping a damn car…"

"Enough about that…" Cooper snapped the fingers of his left hand and pointed to the four shark fin legs that were about to exit the room by now, "Somebody please go stop them…"

"Yeah. On it!" Pete snapped his head around and hurried after the two oldest.

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"Why don't you just give up…" Boxer drawled, but Pete could hear the strain in his voice.

"Give up?" Jack laughed between panting breaths, "Ya oughtta know by now, that ain't in my vocabulary…"

"Stubborn Dalton kid!" Boxer panted.

"You ain't no better Claude…" Jack stopped momentarily to balance on one hand while the forearm of his other hand went up to wipe away sweat from his eyes.

"I ain't got a damn broken leg!"

Pete stayed back to watch how this could possibly unfold.

"Well, it ain't bad…" Jack countered, "Besides, I can't see how ya keep your balance with that shitty form you've got!"

"My form might not be pretty, but it works…" Boxer shot back, and Pete realized he would have to interfere if he wanted an quick end to this.

"Hey, guys…"

Both of them stopped. On their hands.

"Need you back in there…" Pete jerked his thumb over his shoulder, even though he knew neither of the two stubborn delta's were watching. "So… Why not call a raincheck on this little show-off stunt?"

"Nah, we gotta see who wins…" Jack drawled, his accent thicker than usual.

"We won. Delta won." Pete tried, knowing that wasn't what Jack meant.

"Nah, I've gotta beat this stubborn jerk…" Boxer moved the elbow that was closest to Jack a little, as if he was pointing with it.

Rolling his eyes, Pete realized words were lost on the two Texans and promptly stepped forward and pushed Box off balance.

"HEY!"

"You lost…" Pete smirked, as Jack got back down to his good foot in a controlled manner, "Now, let's get back in there… Jack, you need a shoulder?"

Jack stood with one hand up against the wall for support, and nodded. "First I need 15 seconds…"

"I need a raincheck on this…" Boxer frowned as he got himself to his feet, and scowled over at Pete.

"Yeah, I need one too…" Jack nodded, "This is one thing I need to win fair and square…"

"OR lose… Fair and square…" Boxer suggested.

"Nah, win…"

 **Okay… That's it for today! Hope you're having a freaking great day!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Okay here we go again. Let's see what I've got in store for y'all…**

"Now, who won?" Dunc asked as Pete and Boxer came back with Jack between them.

"Neither." Pete smirked, "Or well, Jack. If you don't mind that I pushed Boxer over…"

The confession and smile was rewarded with Boxer's hand smacking against the back of his head.

"Hey! OW!" Pete frowned and brought his free hand up to rub at the back of his head.

"Oh come on now…" Jack drawled as he tried to conceal that the corners of his lips quirked upward, "It was just a brain duster… That's church discipline… Doesn't really hurt."

Then when he saw the glare Pete shot him, Jack broke out laughing.

"Church discipline - my ass…" Pete frowned and kept rubbing the sore spot, "Might have been if it wasn't for Box's watch hitting me…"

Boxer chuckled and shook his head, "Sorry Pete, forgot I had it on…"

Pete scowled over at Boxer, then he twisted to see Box's wrist and the offending watch, with its clock face on the inside of Boxer's wrist out of habit.

"You know I'm planning revenge, right?" Pete warned, his eyes forming small slits as he pinned Boxer with a stare.

"Don't go starting any kind of prank war, please!" Duncan rolled his eyes, "We all know everyone is a little too competitive to lose, and you know what happened last time…"

"That wasn't us…" Pete frowned.

"Yeah, that was… That was Jack and Coop…"

"Same difference…" Dunc shook his head, "Clue is, we all remember what happened, we don't want to start anything like that again. Right?"

"What happened?" Allie darted in, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well." Duncan sighed, "As retaliation for some itching powder someone had used on the other. One person decided to cut someone's hair in their sleep, and superglue it to their chest and face…"

"Which in turn caused the other one to get a hold of some laxatives." Boxer added.

"Yeah, before the other person got out a needle and tread and sowed the legs and sleeves of all the other person's clothes shut…" Duncan remembered.

"And a lot happened after that too…" Boxer shrugged, "But I think the final straw was when person A stole person B's clothes while he was in the shower and pinned them up at the message board… His towel included…"

"And then pretty much gave the rest of us direct orders not to help person B…" Duncan chuckled.

"There was a small retaliation after that too, before the rest of us managed to get them to stop."

"Oh yeah?" Allie was giggling despite her best efforts.

"Superglue plus coffee mug…" Pete remembered, "Let's go with the whole person A vs person B thing to keep the two anonymous in who was guilty of what… But person B planned to just glue person A's hand to the cup…"

"-Person A got his hand glued to the cup…" Boxer nodded then laughed, "He also got his lip glued to the cup when he went to get a sip of his coffee…"

"So… Pete, Box…" Duncan crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the two in a way that he tried to copy from Miss Water's, "Would you two just please behave, before we end up with situations like last time?"

"Not promising anything…" Pete shrugged.

Duncan shook his head in exasperation, before he silently muttered "If this is what it's like having kids, then I'm not having any…"

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"If this is what it's like having kids, then I'm not having any…" Duncan's words were just loud enough for Coop to hear, and they genuinely made him laugh. Out of all the Delta's he knew exactly who was likely to end up with kids, in plural, later on. Pete was on the top of the list, then came Dunc… And maybe Jack after that again.

Coop wasn't entirely sure about himself of Boxer. He couldn't really imagine himself as someone's dad, and he doubted that would change over the next decade or so. And Boxer? Boxer was more fit to be the cool uncle than a father.  
-Okay, he would be a great father too, but he didn't really come across as the 'wife and kids' apple-pie life type. Coop's guess was Boxer would stay with the Delta's as long as they allowed him to be in the field, then who knows? Maybe he would finally start climbing the ladder? Everyone in the field knew the desk jockeys could use a few good heads among them. And who knew, in about five years when Boxer reached what? 107 years of age? Maybe a desk job would be something for him?

His thoughts did nothing to stop him from snickering as the rest of the team placed their eyes on him with expectant looks.

"What's funny big guy?" Pete finally asked.

"Oh, nothing…" Coop chuckled as his left hand darted up to wipe at his right eye, "Just the thought of pretty much any of you with kids… Except maybe you…"

Pete looked a little confused for a moment, then he also let out a short chuckle. "That would be an experience…"

"Exactly." Coop nodded, grateful that he didn't really have to reveal what he'd really been thinking in detail.

"And how about you, _big guy._ " Theo asked, looking over at Coop. "How hilarious do you think it would be to see you with a couple of miniature copies of yourself?"

Coop stopped laughing, then he shrugged. "Dunno… Have never really thought about kids."

"Aw, come on!" Theo pulled, "Everyone's had it pass through their mind one time or another…"

Coop shrugged, "Kinda figured I'd retire first. No hurries."

"Okay, that's fair." Theo shrugged back, then he looked at the Delta team, "Anyone of you've got kids?"

The Delta's shook their heads and a couple of them voiced their 'no'-s.

"And you guys?" Duncan decided to ask in return, "Anyone got that wife, dog, 2.4 kids combo waiting back home?"

"Both Kyle and Allan has." Theo answered for the group.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Kyle grinned, "I've got a daughter, she's 3. And talks even more than her mother, and luckily she's got her mother's good looks too."

There was a little fit of good natured laughs going around the two groups.

Then Allan cleared his voice, "I've got three. Two boys, one girl. Oldest boy turns 10 in a month, the middle one is 8 and my little princess is also 3…"

"Did you guys plan that or something?"

"Nah… Just happened to knock our ladies up during the same leave…" Kyle shrugged, "We had bets on whether my wife or his would be the first one to give birth…"

"It ended up being really close too," Allan informed, "There's five days between them, isn't there?"

"June 6th…"

"June 11th, yeah, that fits."

"You ain't got any either Ben?" Jack asked as he sat down next to the SEAL.

"No…" Ben shook his head a little, "No, me and my wife can't…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry…" Jack winced, knowing that it probably was a tender subject.

"We're looking into adoption though…" Ben shrugged, "I figure I'd rather retire and adopt a kid than keep on with this life for as long as I can, and end up being the reason my wife can't call someone her kid…"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I see that."

Ben nodded too, then he looked back up at the others, "Okay. So… enough about that… I've got an idea for the next challenge…"

"You do?" Jack grinned, "Let's hear it then."

"Well, actually it's your idea, but…" Ben shrugged, "See who can get the furthest by jumping on one leg…"

Jack nodded, "How many participants?"

"One against one?" Ben shrugged, "Or we might end up having to send someone after stubborn Delta's again…"

Jack smirked, "So you already know you're gonna lose?"

Ben shook his head, "No, just joking. Of course we're gonna win."

"Who's your guy then?"

"I am…" Kyle answered for him.

"Yours?"

"What do you think guys? Should I?" Jack drawled and leaned back to look at all of his men, and Allie.

"Better you than me…" Cooper chuckled.

"That's true…" Boxer grinned at Cooper, then his expression changed and he looked over at Jack, "You sure you want to? I could go? Pete or Dunc could too…"

"Well, any of you got any objections to me taking this one?" Jack changed his question and gazed over his team.

None of them answered.

"Okay then," Jack grinned, "Then it's me…"

Ben and Kyle nodded.

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As Duncan helped Jack over to the starting point of the competition, Allie leaned over to Boxer and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"As a former gymnast, I've got to say one thing…"

Boxer chuckled and looked in her direction, "Lemme guess… Bad form?"

"Bad form…" Allie nodded with a smirk, "Or, it could be a Mexican handstand, but it would still be pretty bad form even then…"

"But hey, I keep my balance. And that's the important part in these little show-offs…" Boxer grinned.

"Guess it is…" Allie agreed, "But it's not pretty…"

"Never said it was…" Boxer shrugged, and looked over at Jack, Kyle and Ben just in time to see Ben send the two competitors on their way.

 **Okay. Hope you enjoyed today's chapter. Who's ready for this week's episode? I am!**


	39. Chapter 39

**Okay on to the next one. Hope I'm not boring y'all.**

Kyle tried ignoring how his right leg burnt like crazy. He was tempted to try to change which leg he hopped on. He would have too, if he wasn't absolutely sure that four Delta's watching would pick up on it.

He let out a cussword as the burning in his leg intensified, and started to creep up to his thigh too. And the worst part was that the older guy from Delta seemed unaffected. Sure, he was sucking air… But he didn't look like his leg muscles were about to give in.

And, and his shoulder didn't exactly enjoy the workout. But he guessed his shoulder, which was basically nothing but a laceration if you broke it down, was nothing compared to the actual broken leg the other guy had.

He gritted his teeth and did his best to push on. It was not easy, but he still had something left in him. You were never done when you thought you were done, you were only done when you collapsed. When you literally couldn't go any further.

But that shouldn't be now. They hadn't been skipping like this far enough to explain why his leg felt like someone had injected pure acid into his leg muscles.  
It could maybe be explained by the long hike their team had trekked the last couple of days, but still. This was borderline embarrassing.  
And Oscar didn't look like he'd struggled too much during the race.

He groaned, fighting the fire burning in his leg.

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The sound of his team clapping and cheering him on pushed Jack forward. He really wanted to bring this one home for his team, even if he had to crawl back once his good leg wouldn't support him anymore.  
Which in all honesty felt like it would be soon. But a glance over his left shoulder told him that Kyle was struggling at least as much as he did. That also helped push him forward.

But he surely hoped the damn SEAL would have to give in soon, or Jack would lose.

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He tripped, he landed on the outer side of his foot. Too far out to regain his balance.

There wasn't much he could do as he tipped over in what felt like slow motion.

"JACK! JACK! You can stop now!" he heard one of the Delta's grin behind him, "Kyle fell!"

He fought the urge to curl up in a ball and clutch his ankle, he also fought the urge to groan as the burning sensation in his calf migrated down to his ankle.

He stretched, moved and twisted his ankle, while the others attention was turned towards Jack, to gauge how badly he had sprained it. Because he had sprained it.

It didn't feel great, but it felt alright enough. He could probably cover up whatever limp his ankle tried to force on him, and judging by experience, it probably wouldn't swell up too much or get too bruised either. Actually, it could happen that it didn't bruise at all.

Twisting around so he was on his knees, he got up. His right ankle wasn't all that happy when he tested his weight on it, but it held and that was the thing that mattered.

He looked up just in time to find Ben's watchful eyes locked on him. An unspoken agreement not to say anything aloud registered, and Kyle walked over to the chair next to Ben and sat down.

"You're limping…" Ben mentioned casually, it was so low it could easily be confused with an exhale.

Kyle nodded a little and answered in the same, almost soundless, manner. "Yeah… twisted my ankle a little. Nothing big."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Sure." Kyle assured him, "Feels like I'll forget all about it by the time we leave here today…"

"Okay, you tell me if you change your opinion on that. Alright?"

"Alright." Kyle nodded.

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Jack was grateful for the help Boxer and Dunc offered him to get back to his chair. His good leg was burning with lactic acid and his hurt leg was burning with the injury.

But, a couple of glances over at the SEAL as they had skipped around the room told him that he still deserved his spot on the Delta team. Poor young guy had looked like he was struggling ever since they got to the first turn.

He had to give it to the kid, if he really had started fighting acid when it looked like that had presented itself as a problem, then he was one stubborn SOB.

As for the kid starting to struggle before him, well… Either Jack was just in better shape, even though he liked to think that was the case he guessed the true answer was more along the lines of the SEALs just getting back from an op and that the Delta's now had had a few days off.

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"So, what's the next competition?" Oscar pressed as he leaned forward in his seat.

"Would you guys like to know what I think?" Allie offered, waiting for the guys to nod, "I think that if we don't put an end to this, you guys are going to compete until you either end up in one of these hospital beds, either for injuries or dehydration… So… Maybe we should just call that last one for the last?"

 **Short chapter, I know… Sorry.**

 **And hey, if any of you want to see my embarrassing artistic skills when it comes to pencil and paper, head on over to Instagram and look for 'm . art . work93' (just skip the spaces.)**

 **With a little help I managed to talk myself into the need of Coop and Allie hugging each other. Or some other way to show off the hilarious size difference. (If it's a long time since this story was posted, but you still want to check that out, I'd advise you to go to the bottom of that IG account, and just find the first one posted in colors.)**

 **And on that note, I really wish this fandom in general created more fan art. (Drawings, paintings, etc.)**


	40. Chapter 40

**Here we go again. What should I write? Hmm…**

Both of the teams and Allie stayed a little late. Not late enough to cause the staff to kick them out, but late enough that they probably should have left an hour or so earlier.

They drove back to camp in the same fashion they had driven to the hospital, but this time Pete and Boxer had switched places.

Jack and Boxer was in the first Jeep. Paying more attention to old stories they both had heard and told a million times before than their surroundings. Neither of them really payed much attention to the buildings and windows around them, but they still looked.

Multitasking, was that what it was called?

Boxer let out a warm-hearted chuckle as Jack brought up the time they had tried to take Tammy and Rachel to prom. And both of their trucks had been in bad shape that week.  
Rachel had been a little annoyed, but Tammy just laughed when the guys had showed up with bicycles and offered to 'drive' them to prom on their handlebars.

Jack grinned at the memory too, for a short minute before he pointed forward, "Hey, stop!"

Boxer pulled the Jeep to a lazy halt and stared at what Jack had been pointing at.

"Hmm… That's a nice little disturbance in the dirt…" he drawled before looking over at Jack, "Whaddaya think? We shouldn't drive over it?"

"Yeah." Jack nodded, "Looks like we could make a whole lot of noise if we do…"

"Yeah… Maybe we should radio Pete and Dunc, tell 'em that we might've found something…"

"Good idea." Jack nodded.

"This _WOULD_ be a crappy location to set up an ambush… Do you think they've got someone hidden behind any corners here?"

Jack shrugged, "Works a little better if there's a mine in the ground over there…"

"Yeah, that's true…" Boxer agreed, "But still… If that upturned soil hides a mine, and that's still a big IF, it's still far too easy to just ride around."

Jack nodded, but made sure to study their surroundings better as he found his radio.

Just in case something like this happened, they had agreed to set their radios to a frequency rarely used, so they could get a hold of each other without necessarily using proper radio etiquette.

"Hey guys, hang back a little. Will ya? Box and I might have stumbled upon something." Jack drawled.

There was a couple of silent seconds before the radio crackled a second before Pete's voice came clear over the frequency.

"Copy that. What'cha got?"

"Might be nothin'…" Jack shrugged, "Might be an IED and a possible ambush waitin' to happen."

"Sit tight here while I go take a peep around the corner. Have your 9mm ready…" Boxer rumbled, then he looked at the steering wheel as if an additional thought dropped into his head, "And scoot over to the driver's side. I know you still can get this Jeep movin', we might need that…"

Jack nodded and keyed the radio again, "Box is going out to check now. Stand by."

"If we don't hear anything in 10?"

"Find another way back to base, get Allie to safety, and find someone that can help you find us…"

"Copy."

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Boxer found his handgun too from where he had hidden it in the Jeep earlier. He detached the magazine and checked it, just as he had left it, full. He ejected the one he had in the chamber and re-loaded it, putting in the extra one in the chamber too.

"As long as there's not more than 32 sons of bitches out there, we're good."

"You really going to joke about being able to take two by the bullet right now? With a 9mm?" Jack cocked an eyebrow and looked over at Boxer with a slightly nervous expression.

"No smartass! I was thinking more like one per bullet, but if you're a few bullets short I could definitely go for a couple of double kills." Boxer sighed, "You've got a mag plus the chamber too, right?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I do. But do I have to remind you that I'm not the MOST mobile guy around at the moment? I can't step down on my left leg, I'm not gonna be at that corner with ya…"

"No, but if this is an ambush, and they don't take me out by the first bullet, I can backtrack and draw them to the corner so we both can make some use of ourselves." Boxer shrugged, "Worked in Bagdad."

"Bagdad was pure luck, and you know it."

"Yeah, I know it." Boxer nodded, "'member Charlie almost bit the dust that day."

"Yeah, he must've had luck shoved up his ass or something." Jack nodded, "And Pete hadn't been with us for that long, Norway must've freaked him out with how calm he was while Pete stitched up that grace."

Box nodded, "Yeah. I imagine."

"We should prolly ask Pete if he remembers it someday…"

"Hey, let's first make it through this one." Boxer winked and clicked his tongue, as if to make them both focus about what was actually going on.

Jack nodded and settled in behind the wheel, his gun resting on his right thigh.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Boxer crept over to the corner with great caution. He sure as hell didn't want to set the date at the end of that dash written in stone today.

He kept his eyes wandering across every surface and every window he could see. So far everything seemed fine. The parts of the side alleys he could see was clear, and further down the street they were on kids about 12 or 13 years old were messing around with a punctured ball.

It was late, but not that late, and four kids playing in the street could mean a lot of things. Either, they were placed there by adults with rifles to keep watch of whatever happened in the area. Or since none of them seemed to pay attention to him, at all, they could just be kids being kids too, taking a well deserved break from the reality around them.

After making sure he had checked all of the windows and doorways, he chanced a glance down at the disturbed soil where the driver's side wheel would naturally roll if you didn't make an effort to steer clear of the disturbance.

"What the…" he trailed off as he squinted down at what looked like a piece of paper, "Didn't think they left poems on top of things to blow us up with…"

He looked back up and crept closer to the corner, far enough to see all the way down the alley on the left. Then he took a hurried glance around the corner and peeped down the right side. He looked again, taking a little more time this time around. Taking in each and every window or possible hiding spot, before he concluded that all was clear.

He lowered his gun from the ready position, put the safety back on but didn't tuck it away. Then he signaled for Jack that he could relax a bit too. It didn't look like someone was out to pop their heads off with steel rain today.

He looked towards the kids again, still four, still playing with the punctured soccer ball. He felt certain enough that they weren't there to tell on them.

Another look down at the weird little paper half-buried under the gravel got him to carefully step closer.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Jack didn't know what he had expected when Box stepped closer to the assumed road-mine, but it sure as hell hadn't been his best friend throwing his head back in a characteristic Boxer-laugh.

He leaned out the window as Boxer knelt down one hand clasped to his midriff as he laughed so his whole body shook. "Hey! What's goin' on over there?"

"Oh… OH MAN… THEY GOT US GOOD THIS TIME 'ROUND!" Boxer gasped as he swept away dirt from the sheet of paper and picked it up, "It's a love letter from the wimpy water babies. Just sayin' that they already miss us."

Jack chuckled and tightened his fist around the steering wheel, "It's not saying that…"

"No, it says; 'Hah! Made you stop and look! –Ben Thompson.' But that's fairly close!"

Jack shook his head as an amused smirk tugged at his lips, "Sure there's nothin' more there?"

"Says 'drive safe' too…" Boxer shrugged, "But there's nothing more where I found this, no IED nothing."

"Sure?"

"They took a shovel of dirt from behind the corner over there…" Boxer pointed to the right corner, "Just enough to mimic upturned soil."

"Okay, I'll tell Pete that they're good to go." Jack shrugged.

"Yeah." Box agreed, "Hey, do you want to drive the last little stretch, or do you want to ride shotgun?"

"Shotgun." Jack shrugged as he started making his way over to the passenger seat.

Boxer grinned and walked around to the driver's side, tucking his gun away.

"Hey boys…" Jack started over the radio, waiting for one of his men to answer.

"Yeah, we're here…" this time it was Duncan answering.

"Just wanted to tell you we're all clear. Nothing but a funny prank from our 'friends'." Jack told with a good natured tone.

"Okay. See you back at base."

"Yeah."

 **Okay… So…**

 **That was today's chapter. Hope you enjoyed.  
The next will probably be centered around Coop and Theo, if everything goes according to plan.**


	41. Chapter 41

**Okay. So… Not quite sure about how this chapter is going to turn out. Hope you end up enjoying it.**

Something disturbed him in his not-so-blissful sleep, and for once it wasn't his hand seizing up one way or another. He kept his eyes closed and listened for a little while, trying to pinpoint what it was and where it was coming from.

He was fairly certain he was still in the hospital. Yeah, he had to be. He couldn't remember getting moved, and his hand still felt like it had been used as a hyena's chewing toy. The bed he laid on was too comfortable to be his bunk, but not good enough to be the bed he had back home. Yeah, he was still in the hospital.

The sound that had woken him disturbed the semi-silence again. It didn't sound threatening, which was a good thing. He wasn't up for any sort of confrontation.

He dared opening his eyes, but didn't move.

He listened.

The sound was familiar, to everyone. And Coop's heart almost hit the floor. He looked towards his left and was able to make out the silhouette of Theo.

He watched and listened for a few seconds.

Theo's chest was rising and falling in time with the silent sobs and hiccups, and his cheeks glistened where tears had rolled down.

Coop squinted and saw that Theo's eyes were closed. Not shut tight like when you're trying to force yourself to stop crying, but closed like when you're sleeping.

"Pssst! Theo." He whispered. No response.

Cooper rolled to his left side and propped himself up on his left elbow, doing his very best not to move his right arm below the elbow at all.

He tried again, in a little louder whisper. Still nothing.

Cooper looked down at his right hand, there wasn't much to see in the dim light. Then he looked at the fabric covering his legs.

Another sob from his closest roommate set his mind.

"Probably gonna regret this…" he whispered to himself as he pushed himself up to a fully seated position and uncovered his legs. Shivering a little as almost-cool night air hit the bare part of his back where the hospital gown didn't close properly thanks to being a size too small. At least it was tied together lower down.

He eyed the tube going from the catheter to the drainage bag, trying to figure out how far it would allow him to move, without moving the bed it was attached to, before he realized that the bag would only be attached with a strap and that he easily could lift it off and hook it somewhere else.

After getting into a position with his legs off the bed, he tried one last time to get Theo's attention.

Nothing.

"Here's to hoping I don't faceplant…" he grimaced before he tried to get to his feet. It didn't work, as he instantly dumped back down.

"Damn… When did I get so heavy?" he asked himself as he scooted a little further towards the edge, "Or… When did I get this weak…?"

He shook his head and tried again. Determined to get up.

He did. He got up. Even if he had to bring his left hand down to his left thigh for a combination of support and extra strength for a short moment. He swayed a little, but didn't lose his balance.

"Whoa… Headrush…" he winced as he gripped the edge of his bed while getting his bearings.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Once that was over, and he had moved all necessary equipment over to Theo's bed, he started up again with trying to pull Theo out of the apparent nightmare he was in.

"Theo, hey buddy…" he kept his voice low, trying not to bother the others in the same room. "Hey, it's just a dream. You can wake up…"

He reached over and switched on the light above Theo's bed, and contemplated pulling the 'please-help-me-cord' hanging next to the light switch.

But he figured they were too alike for Theo to enjoy that gesture, so he would give calming him down a shot first. If he couldn't, then he could call for help.

"Psst, Theo. Wake up buddy. Please…" Coop frowned, he knew exactly how bad it could be if you woke the wrong person up in the wrong way at the wrong time. He had gotten his ass kicked a time or two in the past for doing just that, and wasn't all that keen on doing something like that now. Not for his sake, and not for Theo's sake either.  
-He also knew the heart-hammering, confused and scared other side of that same coin. Waking up like that was one of the worst ways to wake up in his book.

But waking up was probably still better than whatever was going on up in Theo's head right now.

"Please just wake up…" he whispered mostly to himself, "Nice and easy… If not Imma have to nudge you and I don't know how you're gonna react… And truth be told, I think a pissed off kitten would be enough to knock me down right now. I'm so not up for you waking up all… All y'know…"

He shrugged his left shoulder and brought his hand up to run through his hair.

"Man… I don't like this…" he sighed as he looked at Theo's shortened form, "But you're not leaving me too much choice bud…"

He positioned himself with his right side and hand as far away from Theo as possible. He gave waking the other man up with his voice alone another shot, but it lead to the same result as the other times. He took a couple of calming breaths, before he gently tapped Theo on the shoulder as said his name.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Two strong hands wrapped around his wrist at the speed of lightning.

Coop startled a little, but remained his cool.

"Hey buddy…" he whispered, trying to make his tone as friendly and unthreatening as it would get, "You were having a bad dream or something…"

He kept his arm perfectly still as he waited for Theo to release his grip.

Theo's wild eyes were darting back and forth, to him, to the darkness around them, to the light over bed 5 closer to the entrance. Coop offered what he hoped was his best and friendliest smile, and the SEAL slowly started to relax his grip around his wrist.

"That's it…" Coop nodded gently, "Just like that…"

Theo nodded and let go of Coop's arm, before quickly bringing an arm up to wipe at his eyes.

"You sounded like you were in a bad place…" Coop shrugged, "Hope you don't mind me waking you…"

Theo shook his head, but didn't say anything.

"Good." Coop offered half a smile, before he looked around, seeing that one of the chairs were still standing right next to his own bed.

Theo's hand went up to make a second attempt of wiping away tears and other stuff from his face before he focused on Coop. "Holy crap… You really are really, REALLY tall…"

Coop let out a short laugh and rolled his eyes, "I start thinking that I should print out some sort of business cards for that…"

Theo sniffed, then he let out a dry laugh.

Coop looked down at his new friend and sighed, then he leaned forward placing his left hand on the edge of the bed. "Wanna tell me what's going on? Or…?"

Theo shrugged.

Coop nodded, and looked over his shoulder to the chair. Then he stood back up to his full height, turned a little and moved the chair closer to Theo's bed.

As he sat down he looked over at Theo again, "Well, you didn't speak in your sleep, so there's nothing for me to go off of. But it didn't sound like a fight you should take on all on your own… I'm here."

Theo nodded, but didn't meet Coop's eyes.

They stayed like that in silence for a couple of minutes, until Theo started sitting up and propping his pillow up against the headboard.

"Want an extra pillow?" Coop offered as he reached behind himself and grabbed the pillow laying at the top end of his bed.

"Thanks…" Theo nodded, took the offered pillow and adjusted himself until he sat with his back pressed against the two pillows. Then he went back to staring in front of himself.

Coop didn't miss that tears still rolled down Theo's cheeks, but he didn't know how to confront it. He twisted on his chair and saw the pillow his arm had rested on since he got there, reached out and grabbed it, and placed it in his own lap before he gently rested his hand back down on it.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Theo almost jumped when Coop spoke up the next time, he wasn't sure how much time had passed. But honestly, it didn't matter.

"It's the legs, isn't it?" the blond's voice was calm and neutral, "You're twisted up about the future, right?"

Before he could stop himself, he felt that he was nodding along to what Coop was saying.

"Thought so…" the blond nodded, "There's not a soul out there that wouldn't be…"

Theo sniffed again and looked over at Coop.

"I'm scared." It took him a minute to work up the courage to admit it. He wasn't even sure why he admitted it.

"I know…" Coop nodded.

"How do you know?" Theo almost felt bad for the acid he could hear in his own words, but dammit.

"Well, because I would be…" Coop shrugged a little, let out a breath and looked down at his hand, "Well, because I am…"

"You're what?"

"I'm scared too…" Coop admitted easily, "I've only got a busted up hand, and I'm scared of the future. Stands to reason you're scared too."

They both fell silent, both looking at each other and at their injuries.

"I'm pretty sure my life is over…" Theo whispered under his breath after what felt like 15 minutes, which was probably more like 2.

"Hey. It's not." The ice-cold tone he hadn't heard from his roommate up until this point shook him a little.

"I lost my legs. I'm nothing…" Theo huffed, trying to ignore the hard stare from Coop.

"I know it probably feels like the end of your life, but trust me… It's not gonna be that."

"How do you know?" He wanted to shout it, but kept his voice low.

"I just know." Cooper answered in a sharp whisper, then he swallowed and took a second to calm himself, before he continued in his usual calm and reassuring tone, "Just trust me. You're gonna be fine. You might not be in a position to go out there and fight side by side with your team any more… But your life is not gonna be over."

"Well, what is left of it?"

"Got a family?"

"Mom, dad, two older sisters and a kid brother." Theo answered.

"They'll be real glad to have you back." Cooper winked, "Even with a couple parts lost in transit. Better to have you like this than to lose you."

"But I'm not going to be able to be me…"

"Let me guess. You're like the rest of us? Little too much energy to have an office job?"

"Yeah…"

"Before you signed up… Did you have a part time job while you were in school?"

"Helped out at my uncle's auto shop."

"Great!"

"There's nothing great about it, it's just another thing I won't be able to do…"

Coop shook his head a little, before he went on to his next question, "Well, did you like it?"

"Yeah…" Theo nodded as a little smile crossed his lips, "Loved it."

"Then ask him if you can start up for him again…" Cooper shrugged.

"I can't!" Theo pointed to where the rest of his legs should be, "If you haven't noticed, I won't be able to reach pretty much anything."

"You're gonna be able to…" Coop answered with a knowing smirk.

"How the hell can you know?"

"Well, one of my cousins, he's still got his legs… But he became paralyzed from the waist down when he was 17." Coop shrugged, "He was a year into studying to be a mechanic. Everyone thought he would just let go of that and find something else to do, but he's a stubborn one… After he was ready to go back to life again, he finished school, and the apprenticeship to become a mechanic. He's got his own shop now. So either way, if he's able to do it from a wheelchair, you're going to be able to do so too, and you're probably going to get bulletproof legs after a while. So you won't have a problem reaching things."

"Really? You've got a cousin…?"

"I've got many cousins, and one of them happen to be running an auto shop." Coop nodded.

"What if I don't believe you…"

"Then give me a second so I can get my phone out…" Coop shrugged and reached for the top drawer of his nightstand. Got his phone out and started searching for the right picture. "I've got the perfect picture… Well, of course the quality isn't exactly perfect, it's a phone not a camera of course… But you can see Rune and his shop in the background…"

After finding it, he flipped the phone around in his hand and gave it to Theo.

"You're really not kidding." Theo wiped his eyes yet another time as he looked down at the screen.

"Nope." Coop smirked, "And that's why I said 'Great'… Because it's one of the things I know for a FACT that anyone in a wheelchair, with a little bit of determination can do."

"Not everyone can do that…"

Coop shrugged, "Not everyone can make it to either SEAL or Delta either… Knowing how stubborn we usually are, I'm guessing SEALs aren't much different. So if a random guy in Norway can work on cars from a wheelchair, why can't you…"

Theo studied the picture a little, nodded then handed the phone back to Coop.

"Okay, so I'll probably be able to find work that I can enjoy…" Theo nodded, "But what about the rest of everything? I mean, I ain't got a girlfriend… I'll probably never find one now either…"

Coop let out a laugh, "That's bullshit."

"Which girl in their right mind would look at a double leg amputee and go 'Oh damn! He looks like something for me…' Huh? Tell me that."

"Well, first off… I think your face might be the reason you're not catching chicks." Cooper replied with a grin that told Theo the insult was only made to make them both laugh, which it did.

"Oh, go screw yourself…"

The corner of Coop's mouth quirked up, "Phillips or Posidriv?"

"What? You actually…?" Theo chuckled, "Torx. Gotta be Torx with you man…"

"As long as it's not flathead, we're all good…" Coop shrugged, "The idiot who made those screws and screw drives should be punished."

"That's something we can agree on…" Theo nodded, "So… You've had your share of close encounters with screws too?"

Coop nodded, "Dad worked as a carpenter ever since I can remember. And from the time I was able to make myself useful, I tagged along with him on days where I didn't have to go to school. Holidays and stuff…"

"Cool."

Coop nodded, "And one thing I learned for sure, flathead screws ain't good for nothing. Except maybe fueling rage."

"Exactly!" Theo nodded, "You think you've got it on like the fiftieth try, you start twisting and then the damn screwdriver slips again."

"Fiftieth?" Coop raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, not fiftieth… But fifth, at least."

Coop nodded, "Yeah. I know the feeling. You just want to rip whatever to pieces and throw it the hell away."

Theo nodded.

"But really, no legs shouldn't end up being that much of a problem either…" Coop winked when he figured it was safe enough to enter that terrain.

"What you've got a double leg amputee cousin too now?"

"Nope. None of those." Coop shrugged, "Got two uncles and a cousin missing a few fingers, but that's not the same…"

"Why? How do you have three people in your family missing fingers?"

"-Missing a few fingers, not all of them." Coop corrected, "My uncle Rolf cut two fingertips off in a saw once, uncle Torkel had a bloody encounter with a rotary snowplow. He was lucky not to lose his entire arm by the way… And my cousin Martin he didn't think it was important to keep safety pieces on his power tools. Plus, it's a big family back in Norway, lots of crazies to take from."

"Big family? Huh?"

"Yeah." Coop nodded, "I sometimes forget it when I'm at home, because it always used to be just my mom, my dad, my brother and I… But then mom or dad will start gabbing about something one of my cousins have done recently and I'll have to start sorting through their names to figure out which one they're talking about. The older ones are easy, everyone who's 18 or more I kinda think I've got covered, but the younger ones? Nope."

"How many are you?"

"Dunno… Have to ask mom to be sure…" Coop chuckled, "Seriously, I lost track after I joined the army. How about you, you've got three siblings, how about cousins?"

"Seven." Theo answered, "Got seven cousins, "Five girls, two boys. All younger than me. Mom and dad were the oldest in their family, and started getting kids first."

"Cool. I'm kinda right at the middle." Coop nodded.

Theo nodded, and looked back down at his stumps. "You really think I might be able to find myself a girlfriend like this?"

"Of course." Coop rolled his eyes, "I'm sure there's a lot of girls out there that wouldn't mind your new handicap too much. And whatever girl that shuts you down straight away for your legs, she's not a keeper anyway."

"I don't know man…"

"Hey, I've known you for just a little while, okay… But I can tell you're a guy that would be awesome to have as a friend." Coop almost went to cross his arms, but luckily thought better of it before he actually started moving his right. "And if you don't find a girl on your own, I just might have to make it my priority mission to be your wingman."

Theo chuckled, "You? Being my wingman?"

"Yeah."

"That's like trying to bait someone with chocolate and giving them carrots."

Coop chuckled, "Really?"

"Yeah, look at yourself. You've got all your limbs, and once that fry-pan you call a hand heals up you're going to be completely normal." Theo gestured to Coop's bandaged hand, then he gestured to his face, "And on top of all that, you're not ugly either. While I'm here, bound to play the dating game on difficult mode."

"Well, at least you're not hideous." Coop shrugged, "Really. I just joked earlier."

"Yeah, got that." Theo nodded. Then he let out an exasperated sigh and wiped his eyes again, "Seriously… I'm… I'm not usually like this… I never cry. I usually have control over that shit."

"Well, we all cry sometimes." Coop shrugged, "And I think it's better to let it out than to force it to stay inside for too long. It'll just eat you up if you do that…"

"What do you know about it?"

"A little too much." Coop sighed and let his head drop, "Let's not go into that mi-, that terrain."

"Minefield?"

"Yeah." Coop sighed, "Thought it would be unthoughtful… Sorry."

"Hey, wasn't you who buried that boom-cake there…"

Coop nodded, "True."

"So… You've got your own little minefield of topics?"

Coop nodded, "I'd be happy if we stayed away from that tonight."

"So what? We're dissecting my problems without looking at yours?"

"Yeah. I wasn't the one crying in my sleep." Coop looked back up, "And I'd feel a whole lot better if I knew you felt a little better."

Theo chuckled, "What? You've got an answer for everything now, is that it?"

"Nope. Never." Coop shook his head, "But I do have a couple of good advices to give from time to time. Or at least I like to think so…"

Theo nodded, "You actually do… As much as I hate admitting a Delta operator is actually helping me with anything…"

Coop fired up a friendly smile, "Hey, I'm not too bad for a Delta, am I?"

"Nah… You're pretty alright." Theo smirked, "But don't tell anyone I said that…"

"Nah… Your secret is safe with me…" Coop chuckled.

They fell silent for a little while, before Theo spoke up again. "So… Coop."

"Yeah."

"If you've got the answer for what I'm going to do for a living, and have so much trust in my ability to find someone willing to love me… Do you also have the answer for what I'll do for fun from now on?"

"Well, depends…" Coop shrugged, "What do you usually do?"

"Hikes, riding motorcycles, skydive…"

"Okay, I'm not sure how the skydiving would work out from now on… To be honest, I don't really see how you're supposed to land… But hiking… I guess you could be able to do that when they set you up with spare legs. Or you could use a terrain wheelchair I guess… Motorcycle, go for a trike…" Coop moved his head from side to side, "And if you want inspiration for sports or activities you could just google Paralympians or something and check out what someone with the same baseline is able to achieve. I've heard para ice hockey is pretty fun, and wheelchair basketball is a thing…"

"Okay yeah… So there are active things to do without my legs…"

"Yeah, of course." Coop nodded, "Tons of things."

"You really think my family will be glad to have me like this?"

"As opposed to the alternative?" Cooper raised an eyebrow, "I know I would."

"It's gonna be weird…"

"Probably…" Coop agreed, "But that's just the first while… You'll get used to it."

"You think?"

"Yeah." Coop nodded, "Sure, they'll probably tip-toe around you for a while, not really sure of how to handle this new situation. Not sure what they can talk about in front of you. But they'll love you just as much. And once they, and you, get used to this new little thing… Well, eventually it's just going to be life pretty much as it's always been. You're still going to be their Theo, they're still going to be your family…"

"Like minefield…"

"Yep…" Cooper blushed a little, "Like minefield. I'm also guilty of not being exactly sure of what is okay to say or not…"

Theo chuckled.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

They talked in circles about everything that could be the same, and everything that could be different for Theo when he got back home for about an hour more, until they both started getting more and more tired.

After the fifth yawn from Coop in just as many minutes, Theo cleared his voice and addressed the topic.

"Maybe you should crawl back into bed?"

"Yeah…" Coop nodded, "Probably a good idea…"

"I think so…" Theo nodded, "Lord knows I won't be able to help you to bed…"

Coop chuckled, "No. That's true… You good, by the way?"

"A lot better." Theo nodded, "Thanks."

"No problem, that's what forced roommates are for, right?"

"Friends." Theo chuckled, "How about we go with friends from now on, even though you're a Delta…"

"Okay, SEAL." Cooper grinned, "We're friends."

Theo chuckled as Coop rubbed his face and stood back up, managing to get up on the first try this time. But just as the previous time getting a head rush and swaying just a little bit.

"Seriously, I hope this passes soon…" he grumbled with his left palm pressed against his eyes, "I feel like I'm freaking 90!"

"Head rush?"

"Yeah…" Coop grimaced, "Not my favorite."

"Get back to bed before you hurt yourself…" Theo chuckled.

 **Okay… That turned out a bit messy. As most of my writing do… And I passed 4k in one chapter… That's not usual for me…**


	42. Chapter 42

**Hello friends. Hope you're all doing well!**

Coop woke fairly early the next morning when one of the nurses was tending to the patient on his right. A soldier who hadn't been awake as far as Coop knew, or maybe it was a new patient? Coop couldn't recall how the guy laying there had looked the first day he was in the hospital, couldn't even recall if that guy had been awake or not either.

He yawned and stretched his left arm, cast a glance over at Theo and grinned when he saw his friend sleeping soundly.

He looked back at the nurse, she was hanging up a bag of something and hooking it up to a line than went into the guy's arm.

He laid back again and studied the ceiling, it was probably his turn next. The daily morning routine of changing the bandages on his right hand.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

He was not mistaken. As soon as she finished what she was doing with the guy on the right, she turned to him.

"Oh hey…" she smiled, "You're awake…"

Cooper nodded, "Yeah, I'm awake."

"Are you ready to check your hand again?"

"Sure." Coop nodded, "Doesn't really require that much of me, now does it?"

The nurse smiled, "Well, a few days ago it almost looked like it was more than you could handle…"

"Okay, that might be true…" Coop shrugged, "Wasn't really at the top of my game you know…"

"Yeah, we know that…" she let out a short chuckle, "Just give me a couple of minutes to find the equipment I need, I'll be right back."

"I'm not going to run away or anything…"

"Good."

Coop nodded and looked down at his right hand. The fingers were still a bit swollen, and they were definitely colorful, but at least the swelling had gone down some.

He wondered how long it was going to be before he could consider that hand 'normal' again. How long it would take before he actually was able to do stuff like climbing, or fighting. Or even carry a grocery bag. Carrying a grocery bag also seemed like it was far, far ahead of him.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

The nurse came back with the same old kind of trolley the nurses had used ever since he got there.

It was stocked up with the bandages and everything else they used to take care of his hand with.

"Ready?" she asked as she prepped a basin with what was either pure water or some kind of liquid used on wounds. Coop wasn't exactly sure.

He nodded and brought his arm up in the position he usually kept it in while the nurses changed the bandage.

She laid out the thing that absorbent square over the pillow, ready for when she was going to clean Coop's hand, and smiled. "So, how are you feeling today?"

Coop shrugged a little, "Even better than yesterday… I still feel like I've run a marathon or something, and that I haven't had any rest afterwards… But I'm doing better."

"You like running?"

"God NO!" Coop chuckled, "I don't think anyone my size likes running. But it's a necessary evil, so…"

"Okay, so you don't like running, but you do it sometimes anyway…"

Cooper nodded, "Yeah, workout buddy and I have different preferences. He's not all that into weights and stuff like that, but he's a hell of a runner… And good at pushing people…"

"And you?"

"I can easily pass whatever military running test you throw at me, but I'm not happy about it. I'd much rather suffer through a 40 mile trek with a real heavy backpack then running half of it without any backpack."

"Maybe not right now though…"

"Definitely not right now." Coop agreed, "Feels like I'd have to rest a couple of more weeks before that…"

She peeled back the final layer of the bandage and studied the hand for a bit. "Looks great."

"Think 'great' is a little bit of a stretch…" Coop sighed, "But it doesn't look like it might decide to fall off…"

"No, it looks pretty great…" the nurse corrected, "At least compared to how it looked when you came in."

"Okay, compared to that it looks great. But just because it looked awful when I came in."

"That's true…" the nurse shrugged, "But I think you might actually be ready for the cast now…"

"Cast?" Coop quirked up a little.

"Yeah, I'll have to have one of the doctors take a look at it, but to me it looks like it would be safe to put you in a cast that you can have on for a while instead of this flimsy bandages and thumb splint that we change every day…"

Cooper looked at his hand and nodded, "Yeah, I would definitely feel safer in a cast…"

The nurse nodded, "Let's just clean this real quick first, if the doctor decides that you're ready for a cast, then it'll be the last time…"

Coop nodded and took it as a permission to place his hand on top of the absorbent square.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

By the time Theo woke up, Coop had a brand new cast on his right forearm and thumb.

The new cast meant that he didn't have to be just as carefull of how he placed his arm, however he laid it down, the cast would make sure he didn't get any pressure on parts of his hand that didn't like pressure, and his thumb wouldn't shift if he forgot to tilt his hand a little away from the thumb-side.

He even dared attempting to move a few of his fingers with the thing on. His pinky and ring-finger was almost normal, and his middle-finger would move some but felt a bit odd. Technically he could move his index too, but only a couple of degrees and not the first knuckle.

"How does it feel?" Theo asked, eyeing Coop's attempts of moving his fingers with great interest.

"Odd. Difficult. Weird." Coop shrugged before he looked over at Theo, with a sideways smile, "Hurts a little too…"

"So, basically status quo, plus weird and difficult." Theo asked, waiting for Coop to agree.

"Yeah, basically." Coop agreed before he let out a sigh and laid his arm down on the pillow again, "Dude, it's gonna take like forever before that thing is gonna work halfway decent again…"

 _Haven't heard anyone promise you it ever will…_ Theo thought, but nodded, "Yeah, it's gonna take time…"

"-And effort. –And a great big portion of luck…" Coop chuckled, "Man, you better not play poker…"

"What? Why?" Theo acted like he didn't understand what Coop was getting at.

"Your face, you could have one of those LED banner signs with blinking letters telling what you were thinking…" Coop chuckled as he tried to explain by drawing up an imaginary rectangle on his own forehead with his finger. "You've gotta lose each and every poker night…"

Theo just grinned.

"Seriously, way too easy to guess what you were thinking…" Coop shook his head.

"But you've got to admit that it's not given that you end up with a fully functional hand…"

"True." Coop nodded, "But there's still a chance, so I'm going to go ahead and act like it's the only option, alright?"

"It might be a little bit too much like wishful thinking…" Theo shrugged, "I mean, you could end up having a hand which is pretty much useless. If you don't prepare yourself for it you might end up extremely bummed out if it ends up being like that…"

"I know. I know that it's a likely scenario, but…" he shrugged, "Worrying about thing before they happen have never done me any good in the past…"

"I think this might be a little different…" Theo shrugged, "I mean, you know…"

"Yeah, I know…" Cooper flashed a smile barely made his eyes, "You're worrying about me…"

"So not what's happening…" Theo rolled his eyes, "I'm just saying… I've got nothing BUT option B, but you should make sure to check out both options, maybe option A won't be for you… I hope it will, but…"

"…But don't work myself up?"

"Something like that, yeah…" Theo nodded, "If you look at it from a very realistic point of view… It's been what, two weeks?"

"Approximately…" Coop nodded.

"It's been two weeks, and you can only barely move your index finger. And the three you could move a bit more didn't really seem to be back to normal either…" Theo noted with a deep frown, "And your index finger… Nothing was broken there, right?"

Coop dipped his chin in a nod.

"That makes me wonder how bad your thumb is going to be, since it is broken." Theo scratched his cheek, "Look, I hope you get it your way… I hope it heals up as great as possible… But please, remember that you aren't necessarily in charge of what happens…"

"Yeah, I know I know…" Coop nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. Happy now?"

"Yeah, sure… You brick wall…"

 **Okay, I think I might have to end this chapter here, or I would pretty much never get around to post it…**

 **Hope y'all are having a GREAT day and week!**


	43. Chapter 43

**Okay, sorry for leaving this story dead for a while. Didn't mean to… Just had another story idea that needed to be written in a hurry. Plus a lot of stuff happening in the RL too…**

 **Now let me see, where was I?**

Theo thought the day had passed quickly as he laid staring up at the ceiling as one of the nurses prepared to shut the lights off. It had been said sometime during the day that this would be Coop's last full day at the hospital, and honestly… Theo wasn't sure of how he was feeling about that.

On one hand, he was glad his buddy (although he was a Delta) was well enough to get out of there. But on the other hand he realized that the hospital would become a lot less fun than it already was. And he wasn't exactly a fan of hospitals to begin with.

He looked over and saw that the other Californian had fallen asleep already. He should probably try to get some shut-eye too. Damn, he wished he could leave tomorrow too. But he realized he wasn't up for it yet, besides… What the hell was he supposed to do at the base anyway? He guessed wheelchairs were even harder to manage on the sand and dirt combo the soil at the base mostly consisted of.

No, he would just have to try to sleep.

 **MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL**

The next morning when he woke up, Cooper was already sitting on the edge of his bed drinking coffee.

"Wow, look at that…" Theo chuckled as he looked Coop up and down, "regular fatigues."

Cooper chuckled and let his legs dangle a little bit.

"Ready to get outta here?"

Coop nodded, "Yeah, it's gonna be good to see something else than these walls now…"

"I bet."

"Gonna be weird not talking to you all the time though…" Cooper shrugged a little.

"What? You're going to miss my yapping?"

"Not miss it…" Cooper chuckled, "More like, it'll be odd not to have your voice next to me. Constantly. At least the next few days…"

"Who knows, maybe we'll be lucky and get shipped back home on the same plane…" Theo shrugged, almost expecting a stinging comeback from the other Californian.

But Coop surprised when his head shot up and his tone went a little happier, "Have you heard any?"

Theo shook his head, "Nope, nothing new. I asked them last night after you fell asleep. The clearest answer I got was that 'I was almost stabile enough to travel' whatever that means."

Coop nodded slowly, "Well, I kinda hope we end up in the same plane back home. Long plane rides suck a little less when you've got someone you know to chat with…"

Theo nodded, "Yeah. I hope so too… Not just because I want to get the hell out of this place as soon as possible, but you're right. Plane rides seem a little shorter if you know somebody."

Coop nodded and they both fell silent for a minute or two.

"So…" Theo started while stretching his arms over his head, "When are you getting picked up today? Is it soon?"

"Jack said Boxer would be here before noon." Cooper shrugged and looked up at the nearest clock. "So, in less than three hours at least. But if my guess is correct, he's gonna be over here before 10 even…"

Theo nodded.

And they went silent again.

Coop sipped a little coffee.

Theo absentmindedly picked on the scabs of some of the smaller wounds on his left arm. Wounds that didn't really make a difference in the grand picture.

"So… Uhm…" Theo started up after a while, but trailed off before he had formed the sentence he wanted to say.

"Yeah…" Cooper nodded to fill the silence.

Then the silence gripped a hold of them again, and they sat in silence once more.

Minutes passed before Cooper cleared his voice and spoke up, "So… Adin, huh?"

Theo nodded, "Born and raised."

Coop grinned.

"Klamath, right?"

"Yup. Lived there all of my real life." Cooper nodded.

"How long would you say it took to drive from Klamath to Adin or the other way…?"

Cooper shrugged, "Six-Seven hours? Maybe, I don't know…"

Theo nodded, "We should probably figure that out…"

Cooper chuckled, "Yeah, definitely."

Theo chuckled a little too.

Then Cooper brought his right hand up in front of him as if to mock-study it, "I'm pretty sure I'd be up for a 'short' drive like that about a week after they open my hand up and place the puzzle pieces back together… What do you say?"

"Could be worth an attempt, but personally I plan on coaxing one of my buddies, or even one of my relatives in on a road trip." Theo smirked, "Got a feeling the pedals will be a little bit out of my reach."

"They might be…" Cooper chuckled and tried to strangle the sound with covering his mouth and nose with his good hand.

Theo grinned as if he'd managed something he had meticulously planned when he looked over at Cooper who fought hard to keep his composure.

"You've got anything to write on? Or your phone?" Cooper asked as he pulled his own phone from his pocket.

Theo nodded and reached into the nightstand.

They exchanged phones and started entering their respective phone numbers.

"Hey, if there's room for it, save yours as 'weird tall dude with messed up hand'…" Theo looked up as he finished saving his number on Coop's phone.

"Doubt there's room for that…" Coop grinned.

"Well, if I had seen you standing up first, I would have doubted there was room for you in one of these hospital beds…" Theo shrugged, "But hey, everyone can make mistakes…"

Cooper rolled his eyes and saved his number, "Okay, I'm just saving it by my last name 'cause that's short and there's barely a chance you know anyone else going by Lea… And they always make phone buttons way too small, so I'm not going to spell out my full name either."

"Alright, princess." Theo chuckled "And the buttons ain't too small, it's your paws that are too big."

"Princess…" Coop shook his head, "I'd like to say it's the first time I've heard that one…"

"But it's not, right?" Theo grinned.

"You do know it sounds nothing alike, right? And it's not written the same way either…"

Theo shrugged non-committingly, "Okay… And you're more of a Wookie anyway, at least judging by your size… I wouldn't say you're hairy enough to be a real Wookie. But then again, there's only one letter missing from making you a princess…"

"Dude, I heard that enough in school…" Cooper rolled his eyes.

"What? Some normal kids dared to joke about that, about you?"

"I was a skinny kid…" Cooper shrugged.

"You're joking."

"Nope. Up to sophomore year in high school I was a skinny freaking kid." Cooper chuckled, "We've got pictures back home to prove it."

"Well, it's one thing I won't believe before I see photographic proof." Theo crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You're not gonna tell me you used to be short too, are you?"

"Nope. I've pretty much always been tall." Coop admitted, "But I wasn't always big…"

"Well, there are some things that change, obviously." Theo chuckled, "But seriously, I'm not gonna believe it before I see it."

Coop nodded, "I wouldn't either…"

Theo laughed and looked up, just in time to see a somewhat familiar form come through the doorway.

"Looks like you were right, he made it here before 10…" Theo nodded and handed Coop's phone back to him.

Coop turned where he sat and waved at Boxer, before he turned back around and checked his phone. "'Lt. Dan'? Really?"

"Hey, you're gonna know it's me…" Theo chuckled, "I might change your name to Chewbacca… -Or Princess Leia…"

"Dude, you're messed up." Cooper chuckled and shook his head, "Like seriously messed up."

"Hey, gotta have a little fun, right?"

"Right." Cooper nodded as Boxer stopped by the foot end of the bed he had spent the last couple of weeks in.

"Ready to get out of this place?" Boxer asked, "I've got a few folks waiting for you back at the base…"

Cooper nodded and slid off his bed, then he pinned Theo with a look, "Hey, let's keep in touch, okay?"

Theo nodded, "Yeah, I was planning on shouting it to you when you were halfway out of this room, but okay. This works too…"

Coop grinned, then nodded. "Okay, weirdo."

"Beats being normal…" Theo shrugged like it was an excuse, "Hey, first one to get back home sends a text to the other, then when the last one of us reach US soil, he replies. Deal?"

"Deal." Coop nodded, "Now try not to talk any other poor soldier's head off in the meanwhile. Can't guarantee they're as patient as me…"

"Or as awake?" Theo shrugged and looked to his left, "I'm starting to have doubts that this guy is gonna wake up while I'm here. Besides I think the breathing tube would make him a poor conversationalist."

"Okay, I think the hospital humor have developed a bit too far with you two…" Boxer cleared his voice, "Let's get you back home kid. Got a lot of folks excited to see you up and about."

"Have fun!" Theo winked, "And I'm expecting you to make good on that promise."

"Right back at ya." Coop nodded, "If you don't I'll find a way to track you down anyway."

"Would be a little fun to say that a Delta operative hunted me down…" Theo shrugged, "But I think I might just go for the easy route for once."

"Good." Coop nodded, "Alright, see you around."

"Yep, take care!"

"You too!"

 **Okay. This is where I end this chapter. Obviously. Because I'm lazy and I don't care to write into the next part in this chapter.**


	44. Chapter 44

**Okay. Ready?  
Ready  
Set  
Go. **

Being met with standing ovation from the rest of the team, Allie and a few other guys and girls warmed his heart. And he made sure to bow in return.

"Look at that handsome mofo!" one of the guys called out jokingly, "You wouldn't know he almost bit the dust a few weeks back, would you?"

"Good to have you back Coop!" Duncan grinned and held his fist out for a proper fist-bump, which Coop accepted with a grin.

"Damn good to be out too."

"Hey handsome…" Allie smiled as she stepped in next to Duncan, "You look a bit better today."

"It's the sunshine." Coop shrugged and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close in a body hug, before he bent down to place a quick peck on her forehead, "You look great by the way. Is your hair different? Did you do something special to it?"

"Nothing except taking a shower last night…" Allie chuckled, and hugged Coop back as tight as she dared, which gave him some illusion of her believing he was made out of glass, "Guess that counts as a 'no'…"

Cooper grinned, "Well, you look great anyway."

"Thank you."

He brought his right hand up and rested it on top of his left behind Allie's back, while he tugged her gently closer, and she replied by hugging him a bit tighter.

"How's the hand?" Pete asked as soon as he was close enough to start a conversation with Coop, without having to raise his voice too much to be heard over the other soldiers.

"Oh, still the same old same…" Coop shrugged, "Hurts a lot, can't really move my arm too much or my hand will hurt, but I can kinda move a couple of fingers now. Just a tiny bit though…"

"Not much better anyway…" Pete frowned.

"Nope, bet it won't change much before they get the chance to go back in and fix my thumb and wrist. I think that's a great part of the problem."

"Well, let's hope it gets better then." Pete nodded, "You didn't get any orders to have that arm in a sling or anything?"

"No. But I was told to try to keep it still, to not let it hang by my side all the time, try to remember to elevate it when it's an option and to do any strenuous exercises." Coop rattled off, "But he did say that it could be good for me to try wearing one…"

"Really? That's what he said?" Duncan crossed his arms and stared at Coop, trying to gauge if the taller man was lying.

"Yeah. He didn't put it as a necessity, but he did mention that it could be more comfortable."

"That's what he said?"

"That was the gist of it…" Coop nodded, "Look, you're welcomed to get someone to call him, or to stomp on over there and do the whole 'scary Delta routine' on him if you don't believe me…"

"Why wouldn't he believe you?" Allie asked as she rubbed a palm against the center of Coop's back, craning her neck in an attempt to look up at Coop.

"Oh, that's cause big, tall and reckless over here have a history of lying when it comes to stuff like the need of slings and crutches." Duncan sighed and relaxed his stance, "I might find someone to do the 'scary Delta routine' on, I'm not sure yet… But for now, let's say I believe you…"

"That's not smart…" Allie sighed as she pressed her cheek against Coop's torso once again.

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that now…" Cooper chuckled, "Look, if the doctor gave me a straight order to wear a sling, I would have…"

Pete cleared his voice a little, to make Cooper know that he wasn't agreeing entirely.

"Yeah, I know Pete…" Coop rolled his eyes, "I haven't always been like this, I know…"

"I think what our favorite New Yorker is trying to say is; Why should we suddenly trust you to actually take care of yourself now?" Jack interpreted as he hopped closer.

"Hey, everyone has the chance to grow right? Maybe I've finally come to my senses?"

"Well, we could hope." Jack smirked, and held out his left hand to shake Coop's un-injured hand, "Good to have you out of that pesky place. Hospitals are never fun."

Coop nodded, still resting his right hand on Allie's shoulder, very thankful for the fact that she stood completely still up against him.

"No, they sure aren't…" he agreed, "But it's a good thing they exists."

"True. That's true…" Jack nodded and let go of Coop's hand and bringing his hands back down to rest against his crutches.

"So, did anything exciting happen around here while I was gone, or?"

"Nah…" Pete shook his head, "Well… There's some new first timers who arrived a few days ago. They'll jump even if explosions are so far away that you barely hear them… That's kinda fun."

"That's kinda evil…" Coop chuckled.

"No… Evil would be getting our hands on some firecrackers and lighting them up right behind said first timers…" Duncan rolled his eyes before he let them settle on the three oldest operators.

"Dude, I was not a part of that!" Jack attempted while holding his hands up defensively, "Seriously, I'm on crutches, I couldn't…"

"You were probably the mastermind…" Coop chuckled.

"See, Wyatt?" Box drawled, "No one would believe it was Pete's or mine idea anyway…"

"Well, I didn't light it up…" Jack shrugged.

"Neither did I…" Box crossed his arms.

"I didn't either… Just to be clear." Pete added with a short gesture to stop Dunc and Coop from saying anything just yet, "I might have vented the idea to a couple of Specialists though… They liked the idea very much…"

"Yeah…" Coop shook his head, "I bet they did… -Poor newbies…"

"They only jumped about three feet…" Jack shrugged.

"We did have first-row seats to the event…" Boxer smirked, "I'll admit that."

"See…" Duncan half-chuckled, half-sighed, "Not everybody grows up…"

"Getting older is mandatory, getting old is a choice…" Boxer shrugged, "Or something like that. We sure ain't gonna go boring anytime soon, are we Wyatt?"

"No… Never." Jack answered with a sideways grin, then he took a moment to study Cooper before he moved his cast covered leg a bit forward as if to bring it into his thoughts in a visual way, "Hey guys, how 'bout we find somewhere to sit down soon? I mean… My hands are sore from hopping around with these sticks, and I'm kinda tired too…"

Everyone in their little tight-knit group knew it was only to give Coop the chance to sit down without having to be the one 'giving in'. And each of the other four other operators knew Jack probably wouldn't have suggested such a thing if he was the one really needing to sit down.

As the group broke apart a little, and the Delta's and Allie headed to a place where they could sit down and relax, Cooper gripped the opportunity to stop Jack for a second to thank him. Nothing big, just a small wink and a muted 'thank you'.

"No problem." Jack nodded back, keeping his voice equally low.

 **Okay. Gonna end that chapter there. Hope you don't mind.**


	45. Chapter 45

**Okay. Let's see what kind of fun we can have now.**

Coop sat in about the same way Dunc had expected him to. The same way he always seemed to sit if he had a bad hand, or wrist. Thinking back, Dunc figured Coop had been through more than the regular amount of wrist and hand injuries. At least if you counted everything.  
But then again, you have those people who go through their whole lives without ever breaking anything, or getting anything that remotely requires stitches.

And he always sat the same damn way if he had the chance to. He chose to sit by a table, or something that would pass for a table. He'd place his elbow on said table and somehow find what looked to be a comfortable way to just let his forearm balance above it. Didn't matter if it was a couple of jammed fingers, sprained wrist, broken something-in-that-area, just a scraped up palm or forearm. It was Coop's go-to when he couldn't just carelessly place his arms wherever.  
Dunc had never really figured out just how his oversized friend could find it comfortable to sit like that for more than a few minutes at a time, cause when he tried, his fingers would fall asleep quickly causing him to have all of those pins and needles annoy him.

Every now and then he could see Coop's expression tighten a bit, and if there hadn't been anyone he wanted to impress present, Dunc could have sworn the Californian would have sucked air through his teeth or something and said something short like, 'Ay! That stung'.  
He was almost positive that Coop could have admitted to that if Allie hadn't been there. But he knew he definitely would have if the older Delta's had been away too.

Duncan looked over at Jack for a little while, studying how the Texan was doing.

Jack was way more laid back and relaxed in the way he sat. Way more at ease. Which led Dunc to believe that Coop's injury was much more traumatizing and painful than the one their boss had.

He looked back at Cooper and Allie. Coop had his left arm around her shoulders, and the fingers of his left and her left hand were intertwined with each other. She was leaned up against his body, gently, and her right arm rested against his left thigh. Maybe a bit closer to the inside of his left thigh than on the center of it. His left thigh was angled towards her knees, and his foot hooked behind the leg of the chair he was sitting on. His right leg was stretched out a bit in front of him, but not to full length. Allie had her knees crossed. But her left, then one that should have been furthest apart from Coop, was rubbing up against Coop's leg.

Duncan had to admit, they looked very cute next to each other like that.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

The time between the times Coop's face tried to scrounge up, but was stopped by the Californian's attempt at keeping a relaxed look, shortened. Dunc was sure of that.

It had started out as once every now and then with a long pause to the next time it happened. But now it was only a minute or two since that expression had flashed across his face the last time, and now it did again.

Duncan looked down at Coop's right leg, it had changed position. It was pulled back under the chair, similar to the left one but not hooked around the chair leg, and it was bouncing up and down like Coop was impatient about something. Most likely impatient about the pain and why it wouldn't just go away, if Dunc had to guess.

He wondered how long it would last before Coop decided to either give in to some kind of pain-treatment, or before the Californian decided to get up and pace around instead. Option two was probably the more likely one.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

"Hey… -Are you in pain?" Duncan's eyebrows shot up when he heard the question being asked from the direction of Coop and Allie. He had been talking with Boxer for a while, and hadn't really paid that much attention to the couple.

He shifted just enough to keep them in the corner of his vision, enough to look at them without making it obvious for them.

He could see the tall blond shrug his left shoulder a little, before giving in and nodding. "Well… Yeah."

"So, whatever painkiller you're on is wearing out?"

Coop let his head tilt from side to side for a little bit before he shrugged, "I guess. But I thought it would last an hour or so more, at least before it came to this level of…"

"Bad?"

Coop nodded, and Duncan really had to focus not to look straight at them. Coop's response had really taken him by surprise, he hadn't exactly known the oversized guy for being forthcoming when it came to admitting pain.

Their voices were low, but still, Dunc had problems imagining Coop so easily admitting that something hurt.

"When did you take…?"

"Little over four hours ago. They usually have decent effect for about six…" Coop sighed, "And even then it usually doesn't feel like this…"

"…I don't like this…" Allie frowned, "It could…"

"No, it's nothing…" Coop was quick to deflect, "It's just the regular meds wearing off feeling. Just didn't expect it this soon."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Coop nodded, before he bared his teeth, "But I think I might head on over to where we live and lay down for a little while. Take a pill and just relax and wait for it to be effective."

Allie nodded, then it looked like an idea dropped into her head, "I know of a comfortable couch way closer."

"Comfortable couch? On this base?" Coop frowned, before he let out a short laugh, "You sure about that?"

Allie nodded, "It's in this room that basically only us nurses use. And the A/C is actually working pretty decently there."

"Okay. I'm listening."

"It's on the way to you guys anyway… Why don't I just show you?"

Coop nodded and followed Allie's lead when she untangled herself beside him.

 **Okay. So… Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **See you another day.**


	46. Chapter 46

**Okay. What should I write now. That's one of life's biggest questions.**

"So, pretty comfortable, huh?" Allie shrugged as she watched Coop basically melt into the couch after he laid down.

"Very." Coop chuckled, before he involuntarily let go of a yawn.

"Told you so." Allie grinned, "Why don't you just stay here and relax until that pill you took starts doing its thing, I've got a couple of things I've got to talk with a few of the other nurses about."

Coop nodded slightly, "I'm probably gonna fall asleep, if I know myself well enough…"

"You want me to come by in an hour or something? Wake you up?"

"Only if it doesn't bother you…" Coop shrugged, "I can set an alarm instead."

"It's no problem at all." Allie smiled, "Get some rest."

"Yes ma'am." Coop winked just before Allie backed out of the door with a wave of her hand.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

Cooper woke up as soon as she touched the door handle on her way back in to the room, and was in the process of rubbing sleep out of his eyes when she stepped in.

"Sleep well?"

He nodded a little, quickly looking around the room out of habit, "Thought I'd be restless or something, but as soon as the pain meds started kicking in I was out like a light."

Allie smiled, "How's your hand now?"

"Still aches…" he shrugged, "But it's at a level I don't really have a problem with."

"That's good." Allie nodded, "You want some coffee? I brought you a cup…"

"Coffee sounds absolutely amazing!" Coop grinned as he sat up and reached out to pull the table he had shoved away from the couch earlier closer, "How'd the thing with the other nurses go?"

"Great." Allie smiled, "Took a lot less time than I thought it would, so I headed back to your little welcome home party, and told Jack where you were and not to worry…"

Coop chuckled, "Probably a good thing you did that… I mean, the stuff I've put those guys through the last few weeks… I wouldn't be surprised if they put together a full scale search and rescue mission if they lost track of me now…"

"Oh, they almost did…" Allie chuckled, "Not now, but when they returned from the mission and didn't know where you and Duncan were…"

"Oops…"

"Oops? That's your comeback to that?"

Coop hitched up a shoulder, "I mean… It's not like I could do much about it anyway… And it's kinda funny to picture them planning for a mission like that."

"That's true…" Allie smiled, "But you had the three guys worried… And me too…"

"I'm sorry." Coop answered as his left hand went up to rub at his neck, "I really didn't think it all through…"

"Hey, don't worry about it…" Allie smiled as she set one cup down in front of Cooper and darted back out the door to retrieve one she had placed on a shelf outside. When she re-entered the room again she walked around the table to sit by Coop's left side, "You're cute enough to make up for it…"

"Cute?" Cooper chuckled, "-I thought there was a height, size or weight limit for that tag… And I'm kinda certain I'm above all of them…"

"Nah… You're cute." Allie grinned, "But not in the classic way, I'll admit that."

"You're cute. And then we can probably come to an agreement about me being cute or not later…" Coop shook his head as he reached for his coffee, "You should really start questioning your definition of cute…"

Allie shook her head, but her lips showed a big smile, "Nope, you're cute. Deal with it."

"Agree to disagree?" Cooper shrugged, "You can hardly call a guy as big as me 'cute'…"

"Okay, agree to disagree…" Allie nodded as Coop took a sip of his coffee, "But I can call you cute, and I will call you cute. At least when we're alone…"

Cooper chuckled, set his coffee back on the table and nodded. "Okay… Call me cute as much as you want, when we're alone…"

She nodded, "Yeah. You're cute…"

"And you're awesome." Cooper winked back.

"I'm awesome, huh?"

"Definitely." Coop nodded and turned a little so that he was sitting more towards her than beside her.

Allie smiled and absentmindedly brought her hand up to toy with a strand of her red hair, "You know what was awesome?"

Coop shook his head a little, "What?"

"That hug and that kiss on my forehead…"

"Oh?" Cooper grinned, "The kiss that was a little like this?"

He leaned towards her, brought his left hand up to support the back of her head and placed another kiss on her forehead, but allowing himself a bit more time with the task this time around.

She giggled, "Yeah. That was awesome too."

Coop nodded, "Yeah, I thought that was kinda awesome too…"

She grinned and sat up as tall as she could while she looped one hand behind his neck, tugging him closer. Once he was close enough she leaned in for a proper kiss, but darted around to his cheek last minute, leaving both of them laughing.

"You… You tricked me with that one…" Coop chuckled, "Didn't see that one coming…"

Allie just grinned, "You want one of those?"

"Well… If you want one, I would sure like one…" Coop nodded, a small smile creeping on to his lips.

Allie nodded and leaned in for another kiss, this one hitting its mark perfectly.

"How did that feel?" Allie grinned as she leaned back afterwards.

Coop shrugged, awkwardly searching for the right words like they didn't exist in his brain anymore. "Makes me want more…"

Allie grinned, "I thought so too…"

"Good." Cooper grinned.

Allie nodded, and Cooper leaned forward, tilted her chin up a little with his left hand and found her lips with his.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

A couple of hours later Coop sat up against the corner of the couch, with Allie between his legs in front of him. She had her head rested against his chest, and he had his bad arm laid on top of the back of the couch.

"Hey Coop…"

"Mhm…" he nodded, "Yeah?"

"Why do life always have so shitty timing?"

"I don't know…" he shrugged, "What are you thinking about?"

"This." She shrugged without twisting to look back at him, "I mean… I've been set on never having a long-distance relationship, or a relationship with someone who's away on work for months at the time ever again…"

"You've tested that before, huh?" Cooper assumed.

"Yeah. Ended in a lot of ugly words because neither of us was strong enough to keep that relationship alive…" Allie sighed as the fingers of her right hand started drawing shapes against Coop's right thigh, "And… I don't think I would be any better at it now…"

Coop nodded, "Might sound weird, but…"

"But what?" Allie almost whispered.

"I… I kinda also have some sort of mental block for getting into a relationship, while still wearing a uniform…"

"You do…?"

"Yeah, so I agree with you that life has some shitty timing…"

"So, what's the reason for your mental block then?"

"Basically that…" Coop trailed off and shrugged, "I don't know… Feels silly to say it out loud…"

"Come on…"

"Okay… I've got this thing where I'm afraid of not making it back home. Not for me, but for the people I hold close to my heart."

Allie nodded.

"I… I know what loss feels like, and I want to minimize the group of people that would feel it the most…" Coop shrugged, "If that makes sense…?"

"You do know that everyone that knows you would be impacted anyway…?"

Coop nodded, "Yeah, but… Like, when you're in a relationship you tend to focus a bit on the future too. You start planning stuff. You… You plan."

"Plans are nice…"

"Until they get torn away…" Coop shook his head, "Friends are safer, I think… You tend to be more relaxed. You don't make plans about how you want it to be when you're both in your eighties, you make plans for next weekend…"

"But… Friends might still miss you just as much…"

"I know. Like I said, it's a mental block. And it doesn't totally make sense, even I see that…"

Allie nodded, "But I get it… Somehow. It's kinda the matching end to my fears."

"Which is?"

"To be left alone." Allie took a deep breath, "Last time around, I was so scared every he shipped out, and I'd be a total wreck until I knew he was safe at home. I can't go through that again. One of my biggest fears is to become a widow. I don't want a soldier, definitely not one as badass as you guys. I want a regular guy, with a boring job, who's worst work injuries might be enough to require a few stitches at most… I want a guy where I basically know that when he leaves for work, he's going to come back home alive."

Cooper chuckled, but there wasn't much humor in it.

"I mean it."

"I know." Coop nodded.

"Why couldn't we've just met after? Like… When I've started working back home, and you've retired from this and taken up whatever you plan on doing after this?"

Coop nodded and allowed himself to place a quick kiss on top of Allie's head, "Yeah, I know…"

"And I know there's no use in asking you to quit, because I'm almost certain that you're wired to take that as a challenge and keep on for longer than you initially planned on…"

"It's been known to happen…" Coop nodded.

"I wish this day could last forever…" Allie admitted in a thin voice, "I wish I could be leaned up against you like this forever…"

"Well, I don't hope this day would last forever…" Coop shrugged, "But I'd wish for many more moments just like this… -But with two useful hands instead of how it is now…"

"Okay, you've got a point." Allie chuckled, "-You've got a point…"

Coop nodded and tilted his head to look at her, "If we met after all of this is done, would you…?"

"Would I?" Allie looked up at him, "Would I be with you?"

Coop nodded and let out a short nervous laugh.

"I would." She nodded, "Would you?"

He nodded, "I would."

She smiled, "Life better start working on its timing soon…"

"It better…" Coop nodded and looked down at Allie's hand drawing shapes against his leg.

"Hey, what if we try to get together after all of this? Like, when we're both out and all…"

Coop looked back up at her face, "Like, when we're done, we find each other and try…?"

Allie nodded, "Yeah, something like that… And then we can test if… If we've still got chemistry or not…"

"I'm all for that idea…" Coop smirked, "But… It could be years ahead, more than a decade even… And I kinda just assume you want kids, and an apple pie life. Waiting for me could make that too late, and I wouldn't want to be the reason you didn't get to have whatever life you want the most."

"You're right. I do want kids…" Allie grinned at the thought, "But I'm in no rush."

"That's not what I meant…" Cooper shook his head, "I… I can't see myself in the usual world now. I need this in some way…"

"You need the constant adrenaline rush?"

"Constant?" Cooper scoffed, "You've never been on a slow and boring mission, that's for sure."

"No, I haven't…"

"It's more like five days of absolutely nothing happening. And as sure as you're allowed to talk and joke around, you've heard all of the stories before, if not you've run through all of your own stories in your head way too many times to even find the most hilarious incidents amusing… And then towards the end, you might have thirty minutes of intense action and a high levels of adrenaline, but… It's definitely not constant, and you're way too concerned about everyone making it back home to have any sort of good feeling about it."

Allie chuckled, "Okay, if you say so…"

Cooper nodded, "But I need to be here, and I need to feel useful. And I can't quit and leave my guys behind. Not unless they kick me out…"

Allie didn't miss glance Coop tossed towards his right hand, and she felt sorry for him.

"Anyway…" Coop started up again, "I don't want you to go around and wait for me, because if they can still use me, I'm not giving up. And… If you get the chance to have that perfect life with a few kids, a 'safe' husband and a dog or something… Then you should go for that."

Allie nodded hesitantly, "Okay, new twist on the deal then… We check in on each other… And when we're both out, as long as neither of us have found Mr. or Mrs. Right in the meanwhile, we try."

Coop nodded, "Yeah, sounds good."

"You want a dog?" Allie asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah, it'd be nice…"

"Good, cause I'd like one too…" Allie grinned, then she twisted into another position still leaned up against Cooper, "Hey… Another offer for the 'plan'…"

Coop nodded and used his left arm to pull her higher up, "Yeah?"

"If we happen to be on the same base, at the same time…"

Cooper's lips quirked up in a small smile.

"-If we do that…" Allie took a deep breath to prepare herself, "Can we… Can we have trial periods on this relationship thing then?"

Coop's grin widened, and he nodded. "Sure, sure we can do that…"

"Okay, then give me a kiss, handsome."

"My pleasure…" Coop grinned and leaned in to do as she requested.

 **Okay… Just so you know… The last part of this chapter took me three tries, and I'm still not happy about it. But… I realized that I'm not going to be anyway… So… We've just got to bear with it… Sorry.**


	47. Chapter 47

**Ahhh… New, fresh chapter. Love it.**

Somehow they'd transitioned into laying on the couch, together. Or well, the correct way to put it would be, Cooper was laying on the couch, Allie was laying on Cooper.

"I though you said the air condition was working well in here…" Cooper chuckled as he ran his left hand across his forehead to wipe away some sweat, "I swear it's sauna temperatures in here…"

"Might have something to do with the fact that you've got me as a blanket…" Allie shrugged, "I could find somewhere else to lay…"

"No-no-no…" Coop shook his head, "But if you could get up for a little while so I could toss this shirt, that'd be great."

Allie nodded and sat back on her knees between his legs and watched as Cooper removed his shirt, and t-shirt. Leaving her in the lovely position of watching his bare upper body.

"Ah, much better…" he exhaled as he worked on the last step which was to get the ball of fabric over his cast. Once that was done he shook our the shirt and laid it down where his back would be when he laid back down, "Thanks…"

"No problem…" Allie shrugged as she studied Coop's body, not bothering to hide the fact that she did. "You know what's not fair?"

"I know a lot of things that's not fair, but I'm not sure what you're thinking about right now…" Coop shrugged.

"That you get to be this tan, and I have freckles…"

"Freckles are super hot on girls…" Cooper shrugged, "-And I've got a few freckles too…"

"Yeah, but you've got those dark-blond freckles… Those that almost disappears when you get tan enough. I've for the freckles most red-haired people have, which basically means the same as: I don't get tan, I get sunburnt and stay pale…"

"You're not that pale…" Cooper shrugged as he laid back down.

"Considering that I live in Georgia when I'm home, and that I only have a little bit left of this deployment here… I'm incredibly pale." Allie rolled her eyes, "I'm not 'glow-in-the-dark' pale, but I'm pale… And I am extremely dependent on sunscreen…"

Cooper chuckled, "Hey, we all are. At least if we don't want to be burnt to a crisp."

"Or look like a lobster…" Allie shrugged and looked down at Cooper, "It's unfair…"

Coop nodded and smiled as she laid back down over him, "I guess it is…"

"It is, definitely…" Allie grinned as she placed her head against one side of his chest and started to run her fingers through his chest hairs.

"Having fun?" Coop chuckled after a few seconds as he looked down to watch Allie.

She blushed, and nodded. "I've always been weak for this…"

"Good to know, cause you won't see me waxing my chest. Lost a bet where the chest hairs were at stake once, never again." Coop frowned, "I don't get how lots of ladies voluntarily will wax their legs and other stuff… Cause it was not a pleasant experience…"

Allie chuckled, "What was the bet?"

"Some stupid boys being boys stunt…" Coop shrugged a little and placed his right hand over Allie's back, "Okay if I rest my arm there?"

She nodded, "Sure."

"Thanks…" he smirked.

"But what was the 'stupid boys being boys stunt'?"

"It was a few years ago, and the alcohol level of the night of the bet was a little above average…" Coop frowned, "And we kinda decided that we'd try to climb a cliff near home. The one who fell first had to wax everything that wouldn't be covered by our surfer shorts and wasn't considered normal hair… The second one to fall had to take chest, abdomen, -and back hair if he had that… And the winner would get to live another day without ever having been tortured with wax…"

Allie chuckled.

"I considered myself very lucky for not being one of those extremely hairy dudes, and was very glad that I don't have hairs on my back…" Coop shuddered a little, "The front was more than enough. Oh, and we were a bit hungover when we got waxed too… Altogether bad Sunday…"

"I bet." Allie chuckled and let her hand run up to his shoulder instead where she let her fingers trace along the contours of his muscles.

 **MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL**

It was way after the time when he expected Cooper to come back to their sleeping quarters for the evening, especially considering how the blond giant probably was feeling, and Duncan couldn't help but worry just a little bit about the man.

So he had informed Jack that he'd take a little walk in an attempt to find Cooper and ask if was going to come back 'home'. Jack had given him a vague description of where Allie had told him Coop was earlier, but neither Jack or Duncan was completely sure where that was.

But at least he had something to go out from.

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

After 45 minutes of searching he reached the last building that could fit the description he'd gotten.

He was met by a locked door, but he came prepared with a key he technically shouldn't be in possession of, and easily unlocked it.

He stepped in and saw an old blackboard on wheels standing up against one wall, and a couple of lockers and a few shelves against the opposite wall. He looked towards the two doors that led further into the building, and tried the first door first. It turned out to lead into a broom closet and nothing more. He tried the second one, and found who he was looking for.

Cooper and Allie was on the couch, Allie stacked on top of Coop. The redhead had fallen asleep on the big man's chest, and Cooper brought his hand up to signal for Dunc to keep quiet as soon as he realized who it was.

Dunc nodded, then pointed to his hand and mouthed 'you good?'

Coop replied with a thumb up.

'Coming back tonight?' Duncan asked without sound.

Coop shook his head, then replied the same way Dunc had asked, 'Don't think so…'

Duncan nodded, and jerked a thumb in the direction of the light switch, 'Want me to take the lights?'

Coop shook his head, and pointed to Allie 'Nah… She might wake up…'

Dunc showed two thumbs up and nodded, 'Alright, have a good night.'

'You too.'

Duncan smiled as he gently closed the door behind him.

 **Okay… This ended up as a kinda short chapter…**


	48. Chapter 48

**Okay… We're 48 chapters deep. Shit man… What happened to 'short story'? What happened with the plan of writing less than 10k words? What happened to five chapters tops?  
Me writing happened…**

Allie didn't quite understand where she was when she woke up the next morning. But it only took her a couple of seconds to connect the dots.

She spent a second smiling as she looked at Cooper under her, before she felt kinda guilty for laying on top of him all night. It couldn't be comfortable to have a whole human being on top of you for a whole night.

But she felt the weight of his arm weighing down on the small of her back too, so she couldn't just crawl off him. She knew that hand was painful to say the least.

She let her head drop down against her own arm left arm again, and brought her right up to start brushing her fingers along the shapes and lines of his shoulders.

She let her fingers focus on his left clavicle. She imagined it had to be one of the few places where muscles didn't completely hide his skeleton. The longer she kept on running her fingers across the length of the collarbone, the more she felt like something was off with it. Like it didn't have the exact form she expected it to have. It wasn't like it was veering off course or anything, but more like, like…

Then it hit her and she felt stupid for a few seconds.  
It was old breaks. Old fractures that had formed callouses when they healed. She could feel three of them along his left clavicle.

She was so engrossed in how it felt against her fingertips that she didn't notice he had woken up already. Not before he cleared his throat gently and spoke up.

"Having fun?"

She barely refrained from jumping as the silence was broken, but she couldn't help but blush.

"It feels odd…" She remarked and resumed stroking her fingers against his collarbone, "You break it?"

He shrugged only that shoulder a little, but not like he was trying to shrug her fingers away. Most likely it was one-sided because he was afraid of his right hand hurting if he moved the other shoulder a little too much.

"Yeah. Couple times… I guess…" His voice was a little thick, a little sleepy.

"Ouch…"

"Neh…" Coop shook his head, and yawned a bit, "Can't remember any of those times as being particularly bad…"

"No?"

"Nah…" Coop shook his head and added a small smile, "Not really…"

"So, how did it happen?"

"My left collarbone?" Coop looked down towards it, "Think one was from breaking Dunc's leg… The other was going over the handlebars of my bike when I was nine…"

"There's three bumps…"

"I get it mixed up a little…" Coop chuckled innocently, "I think the third one might be from either football or skating…"

"Either or?"

"Or something else entirely…" Coop shrugged again, only his left side, "Could be both of them happened to my right…"

"Your right collarbone is the same?"

"Yeah… Pretty much…"

"Boy… Your mom had to be worried sick about you sometimes…"

"More like annoyed sick…" Coop chuckled lightly, "She always joked about her sons being allergic to holidays… Guess she had a point, I can barely remember a summer without ending up in the ER one way or another… If she worried, she never showed it… But she did let me know that she was disappointed a couple of times…"

Allie shook her head, "Sounds like you were a handful…"

"Nah… Can't imagine that…" Cooper grinned, "How 'bout you? How were you as a kid?"

"Normal…"

"Normal?" Coop repeated, "What's your normal like?"

"My normal?"

Coop nodded.

"Well… I was a regular girl… I played with Barbie and dolls… I thought boys were nasty until they suddenly became less dirt covered and more interesting…" Allie chuckled, "My dad was the pastor in the church where I grew up, I think I broke his heart when I started dating and he saw what kind of boys I fancied during high school…"

"So…" Coop swallowed, "You're the preacher's daughter?"

Allie chuckled, "Yeah…"

"Wow…" Coop brought his left hand up to rub at his neck, "Never imagined that…"

"What? Didn't see that one coming?"

"Nope…"

"Let's just say that I kinda had a rebellious phase…" Allie shrugged, "And it's looking like it's not a phase anymore… Dad's okay with it now. But he didn't like it when I first started paving my own way…"

Coop didn't say anything.

"What? You scared or something?"

He shrugged, "Just remembering some wise words a wise dude once said…"

"What are those?"

"Something about girls, and fathers, and guns…" Coop grinned sheepishly, "It's nothing…"

"Come on, let me hear…"

"Well, it was my brother…" Coop chuckled and shook his head, "He went out with this chick…"

Allie nodded, waiting for Cooper to quit stalling.

"She… -She was the daughter of a preacher that lives in a small town a little north of where we live. Charlie knew that, but didn't know that the father was very strict about curfew and… Kissing on the porch…"

Allie allowed herself to chuckle.

"If I remember correctly, Charlie claimed he had never ran so fast in all of his life, and there was a 30-06 hole in the rear passenger door of his Jeep from that day forward…"

"Oh shit…"

Coop nodded, "That preacher always was a little off though… Preached like he had done nothing wrong, ever… Had a few skeletons in his closet…"

"Not real ones I hope…" Allie frowned, "Not after that summary of a story…"

"No… Relax…" Coop smirked, "More like… Gambling, drinking and lots of paid ladies…"

"Oh… Well, at least it wasn't actual skeletons…"

Coop nodded.

"Well, I can assure you that my dad is nothing like that…" she grinned, "He's a mellow guy, worst thing he's ever threatened with was baptizing a guy until he would come back up gasping…"

"Okay?"

"Yeah… The guy was my uncle, and he hit my cousin. She showed up with a fat lip in one of our birthday parties… She figured it was safe enough to tell the truth with so much family around her… And she moved out of her dad's place that day. Stayed with grandma ever since…"

"I'd probably threaten with a lot scarier stuff than that if I heard someone beat on an innocent girl…" Coop muttered mostly to himself under his breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing…" Coop shook his head, "I fully support your dad in that situation…"

"Yeah, I did too…" Allie nodded, "But I never knew he could get angry before that."

They both stayed silent a while after that, like neither of them knew what should follow that claim. Not before Coop looked over at the table where his meds were.

"Hey… Al…" he started kinda hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Could you be a real angel and climb off me for a second so that I can sit up a bit and down a pill?"

She nodded, but didn't move, "Your arm is kinda keeping me trapped here… I figured it was best to wait until you moved it before I could… Crawl off…"

Coop bit the inside of his lip and nodded, "Yeah… Probably a good idea…"

He managed lifting his arm off her without making much more than a simple grimace.

"Is it bad?"

"No…" Coop lied, before he offered a semi-truth, "Just aches a bit, must be the reason they offered me tic-tac's…"

"Tic-tac's?" Allie chuckled, "Really?"

"Delta tic-tac's…" Coop shrugged, "Comes in different strengths though… I'd say these resemble some eucalyptus flavored ones that one of my cousins had bought in Germany right before one time we visited them. Enough eucalyptus to clear up your nose and make it sting for a minute afterwards…"

"That doesn't sound like normal tic-tac's…" Allie frowned, "The ones from Germany… That your cousin bought…"

"No… I think it was some sort of limited edition thing…" Coop shrugged as Allie crawled back to sit between his legs, "Guess there wasn't enough people who enjoyed feeling like they got punched in the face by a mint to make them a regular thing…"

"That's an accurate description…"

Coop nodded as he reached for the bottle of pills, "I know… And especially if you like… Chew a strong minty chewing gum, and then drink cold water straight after you've started chewing the gum… It's like a blizzard or something moving into your mouth for a little while…"

"I hate that feeling…"

"…I kinda like it…" Coop admitted with a small grin, "As long as you don't forget to expect it…"

"So… You like minty stuff?"

"It's good…" Coop shrugged, "I thought everyone liked it, until I joined the army… Box for instance… Not a fan of mint… At all…"

Allie chuckled, "Well, is there a story behind that one too? Like, a bad night with some peppermint schnapps?"

"Nah… I think he's just always been like that…" Coop chuckled, before he gave up getting the lid off the pill bottle with a sigh, "Can you help me?"

"Sure…" Allie nodded and easily twisted the cap off, "How many?"

"One."

She shook one out and handed it to Coop, "Thank you…"

"Want me to wrestle with the canteen too?"

Coop shook his head as he reached for it and trapped it between his legs, then easily twisted the cap off, "Nah, this one is big enough to do this with…"

"Alright…"

Then he popped the pill into his mouth and lifted the canteen up to take a swig from it.

Once he was done, he twisted the cap back on and set the canteen aside, then he looked up at Allie, "So… Any plans today?"

She shook her head, "Breakfast?"

"You're off today?"

"Yeah, got one of the other nurses to cover for me…" Allie winked.

"So… That's what you had to do yesterday?"

"-And make sure we weren't interrupted…" Allie shrugged.

Coop nodded, "Probably smart…"

"Yeah… Thought so…"

 **Okay… Sorry for the wait between ch. 47 and ch.48… I kinda got sidetracked with cleaning up and fixing about 14 chapters for another story, that has just been chilling out on my computer.**


	49. Chapter 49

**Okay, let's see what I can post for you now…**

The days from when he made it back to the camp, and until he was getting shipped back home passed by quickly.

Before he stepped on the plane, he got get well wishes and good bye hugs from the guys. And then from Allie he got mostly the same, but with the added bonus of a slightly awkward good bye kiss.

"Take care, alright?" Coop winked at her, trying hard to ignore the feeling of the rest of the team's eyes burning at him.

"You too…" she smiled back, "Write me?"

"Of course…" Coop nodded and smiled down at her, "Not promising much in the handwriting department though…"

"Bad handwriting?" Allie smirked.

"Teachers must have hated correcting my tests… Almost as much as I hated taking them…" Coop answered with a chuckle, before he shook his head, "It ain't that bad, but… It's definitely not pretty either…"

Allie chuckled, "Doesn't matter…"

"Guess it doesn't…" Coop nodded. Then he glanced over his shoulder towards the guys, and back at her, "You think you could keep an eye on those fools too?"

Allie giggled, "Not making any promises, but I'll try…"

They fell silent for a little while, Coop used the opportunity to pull her close once again and place another kiss on top of her head.

"…I better get on that plane before they leave without me…" he sighed and looked over at the big plane standing on the tarmac.

She nodded, but the guy making sure everyone that should with had to call Coop's name out before Coop and Allie let go of each other's hands.

Then he gave a quick nod to the guys and bumped Dunc's fist with his good one as he turned and left.

"Heal up, bro…" Dunc called out once he was a few yards away.

Coop did a 360 on his heel as he shouted back, "Take care, dude!"

MACGYVERxDELTASPECIAL

He had barely entered the plane when he heard someone call out for him.

"Hey Coop! Sasquatch!"

He didn't need to look to know it was Theo.

"Man… You're getting home too!" Coop grinned as he stepped back towards him.

"Yeah, going back home…" Theo nodded and pointed over to an empty mattress in the middle of the plane, where the middle rows would have been if back hadn't been accustomed to wounded soldiers who weren't able to sit for the duration of the flight, "Take that bed, please…"

"I… There's probably someone who's assigned to it already…"

"Then go ask the dude with the clipboard…" Theo chuckled, "I'm pretty sure he'll tell you I'm the only one they planned on having back here…"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah…" Theo nodded, "I kinda asked him how many ha had to chat with back here already…"

"Alright… I'll go ask him…"

"Come straight back, okay?"

Coop chuckled, "As long as he don't force me to stay up front…"

"He won't…"

"Yeah, let's hope that…"

 **Okay, not the longest chapter. I know…**

 **And not the most exciting chapter either… I know that too…  
But I didn't know what else to write, or how to write it…**


	50. Chapter 50

**Okay let's get his thing going. I know I haven't written anything in a while for this story, so it'll be interesting to see if any of you are still reading.**

 **I just wanna say that I'm okay, I'm not lost in space or anything. I've just moved, and I don't have wifi set up at home yet, hence the lack of activity here.**

Coop got permission to stay back with Theo, something both men were happy about. It would have been a long and boring flight otherwise.

"So…" Theo started and cast a glance over at Coop, they were already at cruising altitude, "What's the first thing you're gonna do when you get back home?"

"Well, if my parents are home, I'm basically gonna beg my mom to make some homemade food…" Coop answered, "Other than that, I don't know… Turn on the TV, find the couch… Honestly there's not much more I think I'm up for yet…"

"What? You're not gonna run a marathon a few weeks after almost succumbing to blood poisoning?" Theo teased, "That's weak man…"

"I'll prolly run a marathon before you…" Coop shot back, mirroring Theo's smirk, "I might go for a slow jog, if my paw doesn't flare up from it. Or I might postpone it until they have fixed it all up…"

"You really did mess it up…"

Coop nodded, "But… Could've been worse…"

"Yeah…" Theo nodded, "You're talking to a guy who doesn't have to look for shoes ever again…"

"Hey, prosthetics…" Coop winked, "Might need shoes on those…"

"Alright, alright…" Theo chuckled, "You probably win…"

"Yes…" Coop grinned and did a small victory fist pump with his good hand.

Both guys chuckled a little at that, before they fell silent.

"Gonna be weird going back home, huh?" Theo mused, "Always is when you're coming home with an injury… But this one… This one's a life changer… Yours is a potential life changer…"

Coop nodded, then he lost most of his color and his expression turned blank.

"What?"

"I need to get off this plane."

"What?" Theo asked again, even more confused by the way Coop suddenly acted.

"Mamma's gonna find this out…" Coop hurriedly explained, "I don't wanna be there when she does… Not while it's still unclear whether this is _it_ or not…"

"Oh fu-…" Theo sucked in air, "Shit… Hadn't thought of that yet."

Coop nodded again.

"How's your parents when it comes to that whole 'getting home banged up' deal?"

"Pappa's cool… He won't make a big fuzz about it, most of the time…" Coop shrugged a little, "Mamma once threatened to take away my crutches when she wasn't around, because she deemed me reckless on them…"

"That's a new one…"

Coop nodded, "And she always has that 'Are you really this useless? Do you always have to get yourself hurt' –look when I arrive back home like this. She used the same look for Charlie too, and pappa –if he nicked himself while working, or ended up with a blue nail… And that look is often worse than whatever injury you're nursing…"

"Not this time though… What you did to that hand of yours, that's pretty bad…"

"I'm just afraid I'll see a new level of mamma's look…" Cooper shrugged.

Theo nodded, "Yeah, now that you mention it… I'm not all too excited about going back home and meeting my parents…"

"Dude, we should get off this freaking beast on wings…" Cooper nodded and looked around.

"What'cha lookin' for?" Theo chuckled, "Parachutes?"

Coop shrugged non-committingly, "Or something else that would deliver us safely on the ground."

"Dude… I'm missing a set of legs. You're missing the _use_ of your right hand…" Theo shrugged, "Sorry to tell you, but I don't think it would be _safe_ for us to jump."

Coop nodded, "Yeah… We could probably improvise a tandem harness, but… We'd be noticed before we got off this plane."

Theo nodded in return.

"What do you say we make a run for it once we touch down in either Germany or wherever the hell we're doing a pit stop?"

"Run?"

"Hurried walk, and stolen wheelchair getaway…" Coop shrugged, "Same difference…"

Theo grinned, "Honestly, I'd prefer waiting until we get back on US soil…"

"Yeah, that's probably for the best…"

"Probably…" Theo echoed.

"What's the worst condition you've come home with before this?"

"The one that freaked my mom out the most was when I was shot in my left shoulder…" Theo remembered, "But at the same time most of my ribs on that side was either cracked or broken… And that felt like the worst."

Cooper winced visibly, "Man, I hate it when I do anything to my ribs. That and back… Worst I can think of…"

"Even compared to the boxing glove you're walking around with now?"

"This hurts, sure…" Coop nodded along, "But whenever you really mess up either your back or your ribs, you can't even rest! That's just… Bad."

Theo seemed like he thought about it for a couple of seconds, "Yeah, yeah, you've got a point…"

 **Okay, I'm gonna end this chapter here. Not the longest, I know. Sorry for that. Hopefully I'll be back with more relatively soon.**


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